Malian woman gives birth to 9 babies after expecting 7

A Malian woman became the mother of nine babies — two more than she expected — after giving birth to the nontuplets at a hospital in Morocco.

The mother, Halima Cisse, was expected to give birth to seven babies, an ultrasound showed, but doctors missed two on her scans. It was not stated whether the babies were conceived naturally or through in vitro fertilization, but likely the latter as evidenced by similar cases.

In March, the 25-year-old was flown from the West African country of Mali to Morocco for specialist care. On Tuesday, she gave birth to five girls and four boys via Cesarean section.

“The mother and babies are doing well so far,” Mali’s health minister, Fanta Siby, told Agence France-Press. Siby said the family was expected back in Mali in a few weeks.

Nontuplet births are extremely rare. Although there have been cases of nontuplets being conceived, there are no known incidences of all of them surviving.

Reuters