A woman from Mali in Western Africa has safely delivered nine little newborns. Known as "nonuplets," the babies have drawn a lot of attention from the medical world for the rarity of this ready-made large family.
To date, only two sets of nonuplets have ever been recorded, and sadly none of them survived. Until now the largest recorded safe delivery was of the American octuplets; however, they were conceived through IVF.
For Halima Cisse, and her husband Adjudant Kader Arby, the nine babies came as a bit of a surprise, as doctors thought the mom was carrying seven children. But, with all those little limbs and hearts trying to find space to grow, it's no surprise that two babies avoided detection.
The couple's pregnancy was closely monitored by healthcare professionals thanks to the Malian government stepping in to arrange a hospital stay in the country's capital city of Bamako. After a few weeks it was thought prudent to send Cisse to Morocco, which lies further north of Mali.
Cisse stayed there for five weeks before having a c-section delivery on Tuesday. We can only imagine the number of doctors and nurses on hand to help with the delivery!
The new daddy has remained in Mali with the couple's older daughter. "I'm happy, very, very happy. My wife and the babies [five girls and four boys] are doing very well," he shared with the BBC.
Having given birth to so many children, the couple is aware that all nine might not survive. However, Arby is very philosophical:
"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."
For now the family is managing all the attention they're receiving from all over the world, including a congratulatory call from the Malian president. The mom and her nine children will hopefully all be returning to Mali in several weeks to join Arby and big sister.
