Halima Cissé and her husband, Abdelkader Arby, greeted their nine babies, five girls and four boys, who were also entered into the Guinness Book of Records on May 4, 2021 and recently celebrated their first birthday. The babies were born in the 30th week of pregnancy, and although they are still under hospital observation, their father says they are in excellent health.
The girls, Fatouma, Adama, Kadidia, Hawa, and Oumou, and their brothers, Oumar, Bah, Mohammed VI, and Elhadji, feel great and develop and get stronger day by day. Doctors initially thought she was going to have seven children, but two more were detected after she was admitted to the Ain Borja Clinic for specialist care. Dr. Youssef Alaoui, a doctor at the hospital said:” Fortunately, this did not deter us, as we have one of the largest neonatal resuscitation services in Morocco. Our team was ready to receive the children and we were able to handle them in the best conditions.”
The brood of five girls and four boys were joined on their first birthday party by big sister Souda, three, a complement of hardworking nurses and lots of cake and candles to be blown out. Each was dressed in their finest, with boys Oumar, Elhadji, Bah and Mohammed VI in baby tuxedos, and girls Adama, Oumou, Hawa, Kadidia, and Fatouma wearing baby dresses and tiaras for the occasion. Dad Abdelkader, a sailor in the Malian Navy, stayed in Mali during the birth to look after the couple’s three-year-old daughter, Souda. When he was reunited with his family in October 2021, he said: “All of them are getting on very well and are a joy to look after. Their favourite cartoon is Baby Shark, which is often the best way to keep the piece among them.”
It was just a year ago that they emerged into this world from a fraught labour weighing between 1lb 2oz and 2lb 2oz and delivered by a squad of ten doctors, 25 paramedics and 18 nurses. Arby spoke of the difficulties of looking after so many babies, pointing out that even just one is usually a challenge. He explained how each one has a unique personality, with some needing more attention, some needing to be held more and others more easily upset. He added:” Nothing could be better than the first year. We will remember these great moments we are going through.”
” Nine children are extremely ʀᴀʀᴇ, and until the birth of Cissé’s children, no case was recorded in which all nine babies sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇᴅ for more than a few hours,” the Guinness Book of Records shows. The development of the babies will continue to be monitored in the hospital and the family will be ready to celebrate every milestone in the children’s lives.
