World's only nonuplets celebrate their first birthday in Morocco

The nine babies - nonuplets - born to a Malian woman celebrated their first birthday on May 4.

The world's only nonuplets have achieved the Guinness World Records title for the most children delivered at a single birth to survive. Their father, Abdelkader Arby, an officer in the Malian army, has told BBC that all the babies are in perfect health.

Although they are crawling, some are sitting and can even walk; the five baby girls and four boys are still in the care of the clinic in Morocco where they were born, stated the report.

The family will celebrate the occasion with the caregivers and nurses of the clinic.

The mother, 26-year-old Halima Cisse from Timbuktu in northern Mali, has also recovered well.

After birth on May 4, 2021, their weight had increased "significantly" to between 800 grammes and 1.4 kilogrammes following tube-feeding, AFP reported.

A medical team of 10 doctors assisted by 25 paramedics was mobilised for the multiple births by caesarian section.

Mali's government flew Cisse from the West African nation to Morocco for better care on March 30, 2021. She was initially believed, after ultrasounds, to have been carrying septuplets (seven children born at one birth).

The verified world record for the most living births is eight, born to an American woman, Nadya Suleman, nicknamed "Octomum", in 2009 when she was 33.

• Africa