Short answer. Yes. Section 6 of the VAWC law provides that if the acts of violence are committed while the woman is pregnant, the penalty is applied in its maximum period. The same aggravation applies where the acts are committed in the presence of her child. It raises the sentence within the applicable penalty.
What the law says
If the acts are committed while the woman or child is pregnant or committed in the presence of her child, the penalty to be applied shall be the maximum period of penalty prescribed in the section
RA 9262, Section 6 — Penalties. Read the full provision →
The pregnancy aggravation
Section 6 provides that if the acts are committed while the woman or child is pregnant or committed in the presence of her child, the penalty to be applied shall be the maximum period of penalty prescribed in the section. Pregnancy at the time of the acts is one of the two circumstances that raise the penalty to its maximum period; committing the acts in the presence of her child is the other. Either one triggers the maximum. The circumstance does not change the offence charged — it fixes where within the applicable penalty the sentence falls.
What penalty it applies to
The maximum period is taken of whatever penalty the particular act carries. The law sets penalties according to the nature of the act — physical injuries of varying seriousness, and the other forms of abuse it covers, each with its own penalty. Pregnancy then pushes the applicable penalty to its maximum. So the practical effect depends on which act of violence was committed: the aggravation raises the sentence within the penalty already prescribed for that act, rather than substituting a heavier penalty of its own.
It has to be alleged and proven
Like any circumstance that increases a penalty, the pregnancy has to be part of the case — set out in the charge and established by evidence, not merely mentioned in passing. That the woman was pregnant at the relevant time is a fact to be shown. Where it is properly pleaded and proven, the court applies the maximum period of the applicable penalty; where it is not raised in the charge, the aggravation cannot be used to increase the sentence, however true it may be. The record is what governs, not the fact alone.
What this means, and next steps
The circumstance bears on sentencing once guilt for the underlying act has been established, so its value in practice lies in making sure it is captured in the complaint from the outset. Medical records showing the pregnancy at the time of the incident are the kind of evidence that supports it. Anyone in this situation should raise it with counsel early, so that it is reflected in the charge and not lost somewhere between the incident and the filing, where an unpleaded circumstance simply drops out of the case.