A Somali woman gave birth to a baby girl on a German navy ship on Monday morning, just hours after being rescued from a migrant ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

The girl who was named Sophia, was born on the German ship Schleswig-Holstein.

It was the first birth on board a German navy ship since it was founded.

A statement by the German navy said she weighed 3,000 grams and was healthy.

"Of course it is not a daily occurrence on a war ship. We knew that the pregnant woman was weakened by the long and at times very stressful journey from Somalia. The night before we already treated her. However one must say that it all went very quickly and thankfully for all those involved, without any complications," said medical officer Marius S.

The 33-year-old mother had travelled for five months from her home in Somalia and was one of more than 4,000 people who were saved in the Mediterranean over the past weekend.

The German warship was asked by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome to take part in a rescue mission involving 453 people - of whom 83 were women and 24 were children - who were saved from four boats between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Since May 7, German sailors have rescued 7263 people from migrant boats which were in difficulty in the Mediterranean Sea.

This number includes 1265 women and 476 children.