Would I have any chance of getting PIP while pregnant?

[99Samblaze]

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advice. I’ve heard that it can be difficult to be awarded PIP while pregnant because some people see pregnancy related difficulties as temporary, but I’m struggling quite badly with anxiety and depression and have been referred to the prenatal mental health team.
On top of that, I’m suffering from severe pelvic pain, to the point where I have to lie down after sitting for around 10 minutes.

Mentally, I feel completely exhausted and overwhelmed, and even the simplest everyday tasks take me forever to get done. My husband does most of the cooking before he goes to work because I struggle to manage everything myself. I’m also worried about how PIP would view my situation, as I’ll soon have a newborn as well as a toddler to look after. Would they hold that against me and assume I’m coping because I have children to care for, even though I’m genuinely struggling both physically and mentally? I’m not expecting anything I’m not entitled to, but I was wondering whether I might have a chance of being awarded the standard rate of PIP?

I heard also on FB forums that it’s extremely difficult to get PIP, has anyone got it after going birth?

Thanks

No honestly I understood where you were coming from- yes, indeed....!

Indeed, hence the amount of tribunals I've been at in recent years. However they continue to use it, report after report, as well as other "comparisons" that are actually nothing of the sort.

I hope your review is as quick as possible, and it is circumstances like yours that kept me in the job so long. I wish you the very best x

Thankyou. Hopefully all will go smoothly. Just got to get an appointment scheduled with a decent benefits advisor from The Maggies centre.

Is PIP not supposed to help with additional costs associated with your disability or condition? What extra costs do you have?

I hope you get an appointment and as much support as possible xx

OP does not have any additional costs. She wants PIP as a top up because she feels its her right having paid a whole ten years tax and NI, is peeved that "other people can claim MT benefits" (obviously those are people without her level of savings......) and because she wants to leave her £50k nest egg intact.

Agree. I suspect OP has tried to claim UC, or has at least considered it before realising it’s means tested and PIP is next on the list to try.

I remember years ago when it was DLA where I believe it was 3 months before you claimed and 6 months after in regards to needs, someone asked if they had to inform DWP that they were pregnant because they now had more needs. They were already claiming DLA

I think it's probably a local issue too, they're certainly still supporting with PIP applications at 2 of the branches nearest me. I'm also a big fan of Benefits and Work, and think it's well worth the £20 subscription.

Maggie’s is wonderful ! Totally saved my family when my severely disabled daughter got cancer. How is that fair.
Isit any wonder posts like this either upset me or make me angry, probably both.

With fluctuating conditions, in order to count for PIP purposes, the difficulties arising from those conditions have to apply more than 50% of the time.

I've known many people (mostly, but not all, clients) who can't motivate themselves to bathe or shower because they are so depressed, or cook a proper meal safely because of terrifying intrusive thoughts, more than half the time.

That they "seem completely fine outside the house" might only mean that you are seeing them on an atypical day.

Probably not, because there's only one descriptor relating to verbal communication, and requiring an aid would only give you (iirc) 2 points.

You need 8 points to get the lower rate of either component.

It depends. While some with hearing aids wouldn’t be eligible for PIP, some would. They may score in other activities too. For example, the washing and bathing activity if they had to remove hearing aids and as a result couldn’t hear a typical smoke alarm and engaging with others activity.

In theory, no, it doesn’t. But if you can’t care for yourself, it’s likely you can’t care for your children. Also, I’ve been asked about how I manage to look after my children at every PIP assessment I’ve had. It may not officially be included, just like grocery shopping, it’s still asked about.

Ofc you won’t, it was your choice to get pregnant again.

As I explained earlier in the thread, I know it is often the case that comparisons are made by the assessors, wrongly in most cases, to try to justify not awarding points under certain descriptors. The point I was making was that difficulty caring for children isn't used as a consideration to actually award points.

This, everything is asked kids, pets, shopping, driving, working, how you get your meds anything that will try to catch you out even though you can technically claim with all these things they will be held against you.