Malian Mother of Nonuplets Survives Life-Threatening Delivery in Morocco

A delivery that almost turned into a tragedy. Transferred on March 30 to Morocco after being taken care of at the University Hospital Center in Bamako, Halma Cisse, who was expecting septuplets, gave birth, by cesarean section, to 9 babies at the Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca, on Tuesday. A team of 10 doctors and 25 paramedics was mobilized for the delivery. According to the doctors, the young woman from Timbuktu narrowly escaped death following a loss of blood during childbirth, reports Mirror. She had a hemorrhage of the uterine artery. The doctors nevertheless managed to save her.

In total, 18 nurses took care of the newborns, whom they placed in incubators. A radiologist worked to stem the blood loss. Subsequently, these premature babies were placed on ventilators and will have to spend several months in intensive care. Doctors work 24 hours a day to care for the nonuplets. "They don’t have a digestive tract capable of absorbing food," Youssef Alaoui, medical director of the Ain Borja clinic, told the The Times newspaper, noting that "a small infection in a premature baby can kill in a few hours." This type of birth "is very rare, it is exceptional," he added.

The father of the nonuplets is overjoyed. Kader Arby, a 35-year-old soldier, told the The Daily Mail newspaper that the babies are "gifts from God." He can’t wait to meet them. "I have been in constant contact with my wife, but I had to stay at home in Mali to take care of our other little girl, who is only two years and five months old," he confided, admitting that travel is difficult due to the pandemic. "But we are organizing a trip for next week," he said. "It will be very joyful, and we will thank God all the time."

The happy couple got married in a three-day celebration in December 2017 in Timbuktu. With the nonuplets, Kader Arby and Halma Cisse Arby now have 10 children.