An NHS trust has pleaded guilty to six offences connected to the deaths of three babies in its maternity care.

Adele O’Sullivan, Kahlani Rawson and Quinn Parker died within 14 weeks of each other in 2021 while under the care of the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS trust.

The healthcare watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), charged the trust over failures to provide safe care and treatment to the three babies and their mothers.

On Monday, the trust – which is at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS – entered guilty pleas to the charges at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.

Sentencing is expected to take place within the week.

It is the second time the CQC has prosecuted the trust over maternity failures.

In 2023, the trust was fined £800,000 after admitting failings in the care of Wynter Andrews, who died aged 23 minutes in 2019.

The maternity review being led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden is ongoing.

An inquest into the death of Quinn, who died at Nottingham City Hospital just two days old in July 2021, found that a series of errors had contributed to his death.

Adele was 26 minutes old when she died in April 2021. An inquest found a series of “missed opportunities” in her mother’s treatment, but could not say whether or not they led to the baby’s death.

Kahlani died aged four days old in June 2021. A coroner said “failings in care” led to a 20-minute delay in carrying out an emergency Caesarean section.