In what is an extremely rare medical case, a 25-year-old woman from Mali successfully gave birth to nine babies at a health facility in Morocco on Tuesday, the Malian government announced.
According to Reuters, medical officials in Mali, as well as Morocco, initially believed Halima Cisse was set to give birth to seven babies following ultrasound tests. They had, however, unknowingly missed out on two additional siblings. Cisse gave birth to the babies via a caesarian section.
Though Malian officials said Cisse was flown to Morocco for specialist care and to deliver the babies, a spokesperson at the North African nation’s health ministry told VOA he did not know of any such birth occurring at any of the country’s health facilities. However, Malian officials said Cisse was flown to Morocco on March 30, adding that the mother and her babies will return home in the coming weeks.
“The newborns (five girls and four boys) and the mother are all doing well,” Fanta Siby, Mali’s health minister, said. Siby also applauded the medical teams in Mali and Morocco, saying their “professionalism is at the origin of the happy outcome of this pregnancy.”
