In Mali, here is news of Malian nonuplets. Their birth, in May 2021, was a world first. The nine brothers and sisters born from a single pregnancy are three years old this Saturday, May 4. Born extremely premature in a clinic in Casablanca in Morocco, they now live in Bamako with their parents, a couple from Timbuktu. The whole family is doing well. A long journey, three years after a very high risk multiple birth.
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Nine times three: twenty-seven candles to be blown out, this Saturday, May 4, 2024, for the nonuplets, in the villa in the Niamana Koro district, made available by the government of Mali where the family returned in December 2022, a year and a half after this exceptional birth.
“ Everything is really going very well overall. In terms of health, they are all doing very well », Tells us the father, Abdelkader Arby.
He works and commutes between Timbuktu and Bamako. The mother, Halima Cissé, is supported on a daily basis by several people. Gone are the days when the nine babies were closely monitored at the Aïn Borja clinic in Casablanca, Morocco. Nine premature babies born at six months of pregnancy, by cesarean section. Nine while doctors had only detected seven on ultrasound.
The smallest, at birth, weighed barely 500 g. Their survival and that of their mother was made possible by the exceptional mobilization of caregivers who accompanied the family from Timbuktu to Casablanca via Bamako. Timbuktu where Souda, the couple’s eldest daughter, lives. Abdelkader Arby and Halima Cissé decided to wait a little longer for their nonuplets to grow up before going back.
“This is the day we are really waiting for, the day we are in Timbuktu, with the nonuplets, inshallah. It is our heart city. »
Read alsoMalian nonuplets born in Morocco: an unprecedented challenge for caregivers
A daily life with XXL logistics
When the father, Abdelkader Arby, is at work, his wife, Halima Cissé, is not left alone with their nine children. Nannies, housekeepers and willing parents take turns in the villa.
“They don’t sleep together and they don’t wake up together either. But once one or two wake up, they wake up the others…obligatory. 1:30 p.m.; 2:00 p.m. is nap time. Everyone seeks to rest until around 4:00 p.m. “, he specifies.
Five girls, four boys. According to their father, there are no major after-effects of their high-risk birth, three years ago, and weeks spent in an incubator under close medical supervision, at the time, in the Aïn Borja clinic in Casablanca.
“For example, girls always come from their dad’s side, boys [rires] come from the mother’s side. They don’t have the same character. But that doesn’t matter, we give each of them everything we can in hugs and love “, he says.
Daily life is punctuated by baths / laundry / playtime / meals and the inevitable evening cartoon. An almost normal life but with an Instagram account, an appearance on Malian national television this week and a recent trip (in February) to Italy for a program on World Records.
Read alsoAt six months, Malian nonuplets wait to return home