A woman from Mali has given birth to nine babies – two more than had been detected through scans.

Halima Cisse gave birth to the nonuplets at a hospital in Morocco after she was flown there in March for specialist care. All are said to be “doing well”.

The 25-year-old has become a mum to five girls and four boys, which were all delivered by caesarean section.

Mali’s health minister said it would be several weeks before they are expected home.

“The newborns and the mother are all doing well,” she confirmed.

She said she was being updated on the progress of the mother and the babies by the Malian doctor who had accompanied Halima to Morocco.

Halima had been expected to give birth to seven babies following ultrasound scans conducted in Morocco and Mali.

Her pregnancy has fascinated people in Mali, with her case attracting the attention of the West African nation’s leaders.

Nonuplets are extremely rare with medical complications in multiple births of this kind often meaning that some of the babies do not reach full term.

The first known set of nonuplets was born in 1971 in Sydney to 29-year-old Geraldine Brodrick, but none of the five boys and four girls survived.

Zurina Mat Saad gave birth to five boys and four girls in Malaysia in 1999, but none survived for more than a few hours.

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