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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Work capability issues and ESA  →  Thread

Pregnancy, conditions, and ESA

RAISE Advice
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RAISE Benefits Advice Team, Liverpool

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Total Posts: 151

Joined: 21 June 2010

I am dealing with an ESA appeal where a client suffered depression, exhaustion and nausea in the early stages of pregnancy. The depression was not solely but mainly related to the pregnancy.  She would not score enough points on the descriptors but I am thinking Regulation 29 should apply.  I would argue that (a)  although pregnancy is not a disease/disability, the conditions of nausea (including morning sickness), depression and exhaustion are (even if they result from the pregnancy) so she meets the first part of Regulation 29.  (b) The harmful effects of her going into work whilst suffering from these conditions are however, greater than they would be for someone who was not pregnant - for instance they could raise her blood pressure to dangerous levels.  So that she meets the second condition that if found capable of work there is a risk of substantial harm to her and her baby even though there might not be a risk of substantial harm to someone who was not pregnant.  Any comments or relevant case law?  Thank you Ruth