Malian Woman Gives Birth to Nine Healthy Babies At Once

By Staff, Agencies

A woman from Mali has safely given birth to five girls and four boys in Morocco, the African country’s government announced. The nonuplets and their mother may have set a new world record.

Halima Cisse, 25, was believed to be carrying seven babies, or septuplets, when her pregnancy came to the attention of Malian officials back in March. But ultrasounds appear to have missed two babies.

The woman from the north of the West African state was flown to a clinic in Morocco for better care, on the instructions of the Malian interim president, Bah Ndaw. The “happy outcome” of the rare multiple pregnancy was delivered by the Malian Health Ministry. According to its statement, the nonuplets were born by caesarean section on May 4.

“The newborns and the mother are all doing well,” it said, having praised not only the parents, but also professionalism of medical teams both in Mali and Morocco. Officials in Morocco, however, have yet to confirm the multiple birth.

The new large family could now become new world record holders. Currently, Nadya Suleman from the US is listed as the mother who delivered the most surviving children at one time. She gave birth to six boys and two girls in California in 2009. The babies, who became known as the Suleman octuplets, were conceived via In Vitro Fertilization [IVF] and their mother declined selective reduction.