Mali nonuplets ‘in perfect health’ on their first birthday

The world’s first and only nonuplets, or nine babies born at the same time, are “in perfect health” after a year and continue to remain under medical care.

The nine babies were born on 4 May 2021, breaking the Guinness World Records title for the most children delivered at a single birth to survive, and have now celebrated their first birthday.

The babies continue to remain under the care of the Morocco clinic where they were born, but are healthy and growing up, according to the father of the children. Their mother, 26-year-old Halima Cissé, also remains in care.

“They’re all crawling now. Some are sitting up and can even walk if they hold on to something,” their father Abdelkader Arby, an army officer from Mali, told the BBC.

Although he admits that taking care of nine children is “not easy”, Mr Abdelkader is happy to see “all the babies in perfect health”.

“Nothing is better than the first year. We will remember this great moment we are going to experience.”

The couple and children are living in a specially-equipped “medicalised flat” owned by the clinic, where nurses are on hand to help care for Ms Cissé and her nine babies, he said. A strict diet has also been put in place for the children to ensure they receive all the required nutrients.

To celebrate, the family is holding a small birthday party with just a few nurses and neighbours from their apartment building.

Nonuplets are extremely rare, and until last year, no cases had been reported of nine babies from a single birth surviving for more than a few hours.

The babies are five girls – Adama, Oumou, Hawa, Kadidia and Fatouma – and four boys – Oumar, Elhadji, Bah and Mohammed VI.

They were born prematurely with the help of a Caesarean section on 4 May 2021, 30 weeks into Ms Cissé’s pregnancy.

The birth created a stir around the world and the Malian government arranged for special care for the mother and babies to ensure their survival.

The previous record for the most number of babies born was held by the US’s Nadya Suleman, also known as “Octomom”, in 2009.