Short answer. Yes. Under Section 6 of RA 9262, if the acts are committed while the woman or child is pregnant, or in the presence of her child, the penalty is applied in its maximum period. Being pregnant, or the child witnessing the abuse, pushes the sentence to the top of its range.
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 aggravating circumstance
Section 6 sets the penalties for violence against women and their children, then adds a clear rule: 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. So whatever penalty attaches to the particular act, the court moves it to its maximum period once either of these facts is present. The pregnancy of the victim, and a child witnessing the violence, are treated by the law as making the wrong more serious.
What counts as 'in the presence of her child'
The words look to the child's presence when the act is committed. The provision recognises the lasting harm to a child who sees a parent abused, and it does not require that the child be the direct target for the aggravation to apply. Alongside imprisonment, the section also requires the offender to pay a fine and to undergo mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment, with compliance reported to the court, so the response is not confined to a prison term.
What the provision does not change
The aggravation raises the period of the penalty; it does not by itself convert one offence into another or dispense with proof of the underlying act. The base penalty still depends on which act under the law was committed. If you are experiencing abuse, your immediate safety comes first — the law also allows protection orders through separate provisions. Keep any evidence of the abuse and of the pregnancy or the child's presence, and seek advice promptly, because these facts can materially affect both protection and penalty.
Either circumstance is enough
The rule reaches any offender punished under this Act, whatever his relationship to the woman, and either circumstance on its own is enough — the pregnancy alone, or the child's presence alone, will carry the penalty to its maximum period. The child whose presence aggravates the offence is the woman's child, and need not be the offender's own child for the rule to apply. Because only one of the two facts has to be present, establishing either is what matters when the aggravation is in issue, and both may of course be present at once.