Mali woman, Halima Cisse, gives birth to nine babies

A young mother from Mali thought she was going to give birth to seven babies, but when the babies made their appearance on Tuesday, May 4, doctors realized they had missed two babies.

Halima joins some medical staff caring for her. 

Halima Cisse (25) then gave birth to nine babies, five girls and four boys by caesarean section. 

When doctors initially announced that Halima was pregnant with seven, the news fascinated the west African nation and its leaders.  Mali President Bah Ndaw decided that Halima should be flown to Morocco so that she could receive better medical care.

Doctors in Mali and Morocco missed babies number eight and nine on scans.

Four of the nine babies to whom Haluma gave birth

In a statement, Fanta Siby, Mali's health minister, said mother and children were doing well. 

"They will return to Mali in a few weeks. Congratulations to the medical staff of Mali and Morocco, whose professionalism is the foundation of this happy end to this pregnancy,”she said. 

Babies are currently still in Morocco hospital

There was no record of such a multiple birth in any of the country's hospitals.

Doctors were initially concerned about Halima's health and the babies' chances of survival. The birth of nonuplets are extremely rare and in some cases many of the babies die.  

The first offspring of which there is a record, five sons and four daughters, was born on 13 June 1971 in Canberra, Australia. Two of Geraldine and Leonard Brodrick 's sons were stillborn, and the other babies died in the week after their birth.

On March 26, 1999, Zurina Mat Seed, in Malaysia also gave birth to five sons and four daughters, but none of the babies lived longer than six hours.