A 25-year-old woman from Mali has given birth to nine babies in Morocco.
Casablanca, Morocco: Halima Cissé has given birth to the nonuplets in Morocco, with the feat believed to be a world record.
Mali’s government flew her to Morocco for the specialist care, BBC News reports.
“I’m very happy my wife and the babies (five girls and four boys) are doing well,” her husband told the media.
Fanta Siby, Mali’s health minister, congratulated the medical teams in Morocco for the “happy outcome”.
Prof Youssef Alaoui, medical director of the Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca where Ms Cissé gave birth, told the AFP news agency that the case was “extremely rare, it’s exceptional.”
He said, a team of 10 doctors and 25 paramedics had assisted at the delivery of the premature babies.
The babies weighed between 500g and 1kg (1.1lb and 2.2lb) and would be kept in incubators “for two to three months”, he said.
Mali`s government decided to move Ms Cissé to Morocco on 30 March, when Ms Cissé’s pregnancy became critical.
Her husband, Adjudant Kader Arby, said he is not worried about the future of the babies.
“God gave us these children. He is the one to decide what will happen to them. I’m not worried about that. When the almighty does something, he knows why,” he told BBC Afrique.
He says the family have been overwhelmed by the support they have received.
“Everybody called me! Everybody called! The Malian authorities called expressing their joy. I thank them… Even the president called me.”
