Woman gives birth to nine babies

A 25-year-old Malian woman has given birth to nine babies - two more than doctors had detected during scans.

Halima Cisse gave birth to the nonuplets in Morocco. Mali's government flew her there for specialist care.

The five girls and four boys were born by Caesarean section and were doing well, Mali's health minister said.

It is extremely rare to give birth to a set of nonuplets - and complications during and after birth often mean that some of the babies do not survive.

Fanta Siby, Mali's health minister, congratulated the medical teams in both countries for the "happy outcome".

Ms Cisse's pregnancy became a subject of fascination in Mali - even when it was thought she was only carrying septuplets, the Reuters news agency reports.

Doctors in the West African nation had been concerned for her welfare and the chances of the babies' survival - so the government intervened.

After a two-week stay in a hospital in Mali's capital, Bamako, the decision had been made to move Ms Cisse to Morocco on 30 March, Dr Siby said.

After five weeks at the Moroccan clinic, she had given birth on Tuesday, the minister said.

The mother and her new brood are expected to return home in several weeks.