Parents Overjoyed After Being Blessed With 9 Babies When They Were Expecting Only 7: "God Gave Us These Children"

Bringing a life into this world is indeed a miracle. It is a sacred gift from God, who sometimes bestows parents with more of these bundles of joy to pamper and cherish. For a woman from Mali, it was nothing short of a miracle after she gave birth to nine children, two more than what her doctors had previously anticipated.

25-year-old Halima Cisse was left counting her blessings as she welcomed four boys and five girls on Tuesday following a successful cesarean section in Morocco. Mali's minister of health and social development, Dr. Fanta Siby, provided an update on the mother and her newborn's health via a statement saying they are "all doing well."

Halima's pregnancy was a unique occurrence and so she had to be transferred to a Morrocan clinic on March 30 after first being admitted to a hospital in Bamako, Mali's capital. It was an ultrasound that revealed the good news about Cisse expecting seven babies and so she was taken to a facility where special care could be administered for her unusual situation.

The director of the facility where the mother gave birth told Moroccan state TV that they were aware of Halima's case. Youssef Alaoui said that Malian doctors had contacted them with the information a month and a half prior to the birth. However, Alaouni admitted that they were not expecting nine babies, reports Associated Press.

At the time of the cesarean section, the pregnancy was in its premature stages. Halima reportedly gave birth at 30 weeks and while doing so, experienced excessive bleeding for which she had to be given a blood transfusion. Thankfully, she is said to be in a stable condition now. Giving birth to 9 children was a great feat and when asked about the circumstances surrounding the conception, Alaouni said Halima did not use any fertility treatments to the best of his knowledge.

This isn't the first pregnancy for the mother, who shares an older daughter with her husband Adjudant Kader Arby, according to BBC. Adjudant seems to be over the moon having been blessed with nine children. "I'm very happy," said the husband. "My wife and the babies are doing well." Adjudant has put his faith in God as he says he is not worried about what the future has in store for his large family. "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," he said.

Adjudant also shared that everyone in his family has been overwhelmed by the love and support they have received from everyone. "Everybody called me! Everybody called! The Malian authorities called expressing their joy. I thank them… Even the president called me," he revealed.

Doctors in the West African nation became concerned about Halima's welfare and the chances of her babies' survival after learning about her unique pregnancy. Thus, the government intervened to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible. Halima stayed in the Bamako hospital for two weeks after which she was moved to the Moroccan clinic. After five weeks there, she gave birth to nine babies, all of whom are expected to return home in several weeks.

In 2009, Nadya Suleman from the United States had eight kids in a single birth and held the record for delivering the most babies at a single birth who survive, according to the Guinness World Records. She reportedly conceived them through in-vitro fertilization. Such pregnancies are often a result of fertility treatments that release several eggs instead of just one during a woman's monthly cycle.

While it rarely happens naturally, it's unclear whether Halima underwent any such treatments or not. But the fact remains that multiple births are quite risky not only for the mother but also for her babies. Most of these pregnancies end prematurely and involve a great deal of risk for the children to develop problems after birth. Fortunately, Halima was blessed with healthy babies and is doing well herself. 

References:

https://apnews.com/article/world-news-mali-africa-morocco-3414ab690ccd11b3ee118c78f9a44f92

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56994408

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-children-delivered-at-a-single-birth-to-survive

Cover image (representative): Getty Images | Photo by FatCamera