Moroccan mother of nonuplets reveals shocking toll it's taken on her body

The babies were born in Morocco on May 5.
The babies were born in Morocco on May 5. Photo credit: Getty Images

A woman who gave birth to nonuplets has spoken out about the experience for the first time. 

Halima Cisse, 26, gave birth to nine babies at the Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca, Morocco, on May 5 breaking a world record. 

The babies were only between 500 grams and 1 kilogram when they were born and are still in incubators at the clinic. The babies require round-the-clock care and are fed and changed every two hours. They are cared for by a team of doctors and get health checks every three hours. 

Cisse told The Daily Mail she thought she was only having seven babies until minutes before her caesarian. 

"As the babies were coming out, there were so many questions going through my mind. I was very aware of what was going on and it seemed as if there was an endless stream of babies coming out of me," she told the outlet.

She also revealed the babies go through a staggering six litres of formula and 100 nappies a day. 

Cisse told The Daily Mail three months after the birth she is still recovering. 

"It's a lot of work and I still feel very weak. My pregnancy was very difficult, and I need a lot of rest.

"Giving birth to one child is hard enough but having nine is unimaginable. It's astonishing the amount of work that is involved in looking after them."

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

Cisse's birth broke the world record which was set by 'Octomum' Nadya Suleman in 2009.  Suleman, now 45, gave birth to eight babies all of which survived. 

The octuplets celebrated their 12th birthday back in January. Suleman has 14 children in total.