‘Malian nonuplets face health challenges ahead’

A Malian woman has recently given birth to nine babies - five girls and four boys at a clinic in Casablanca, Morocco.

The nonuplets will have to spend “two to three months" in incubators, a director of the clinic has said, but both the mother, Halima Cissé, and her children are said to be doing well.

Prof Asma Khalil, an expert in multiple pregnancy, told BBC World News that because the babies were so premature they could experience health problems in the future.

“We know that some premature babies do not survive and they die in the first few weeks of life,” she said.

“Those who do survive, some of them might have [a] disability or learning difficulties, or vision or hearing problems,” Prof Khalil said.