The Pretoria doctor accused of murdering her three young daughters soon after moving to New Zealand intends to plead not guilty.

This is according to reports from media houses including the NZ Herald and Stuff on Friday.

The 40-year-old Lauren Dickason is due to stand trial for the killing of her daughters Liané, 6, and 2-year-old twins Maya and Karla, on September 16.

She is in a high-security facility for mental evaluation.

The court was told on Friday that both the defence and prosecution teams are arranging independent psychiatric reports.

Commenting on reports from NZ last month that Dickason had stopped taking chronic medication for apparent depression before emigrating, the children’s former nanny Mendy Sibanyoni told the Sunday Times she had never noticed signs of depression in her employer.

“The Lauren I know is a mother who loves her children. She would die protecting them. She battled to have children and her girls were her everything.”

Her surgeon husband Graham, who arrived at their new home from a work function to find the children dead, told a memorial service for them on September 23: “It is a loss that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”