Over the weekend a baby was born on an Italian rescue ship shortly after his mother was saved along with more than 6,700 other migrants.
According to the Italian Navy and the Associated Press, the rescues took place off the coast of Libya over a three-day period.
At the time of Sunday's round of rescues, the woman was in labor and delivered shortly after coming aboard one of the Italian patrol ships. The Italian Navy tweeted the photos of the newborn.
The AP reports that the mother and baby are both fine.
The people were pulled from overcrowded fishing boats and brought to Italy's southern ports.
While the African migrants' fates are still up in the air, they are currently being housed in Italian shelters.
Officials say calm seas and mild weather are the reason for the migrant influx. They anticipate this year's number of migrants will surpass the more than 170,000 people rescued at sea near Italy last year.
The migrants are fleeing war or persecution and are hoping to reach relatives in Northern Europe.
