temporarily disabled ?

jane130

i am temporaily( hopefully) disabled , i am suffering from spd durring my pregnancy which is making everything difficult , I struggle to get my son to school I'm having to catch the bus which is costing a fortune the rest of the time i am just about house bound and struggling even to keep ontop of the housework.

i am in pain constantly day and night and it will get worse as the pregnancy advances but its likely that it will stop when the baby is born at the end of june.

is there any help i can get finacially or otherwise or do i just have to struggle onwards

Swampmonster

What is spd?

jane130

What is Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction?
The symphysis pubis is the name given to where two bones meet at the front of the pelvis. The pelvic bone is roughly in the shape of a heart, and is actually formed by three bones, which are held together by very strong ligaments.
The bones meet to form three 'fixed' joints - at the front (the symphysis pubis) and at each side of the bottom of the spine (the sacro-iliac joints).
Normally, these joints are not designed to allow movement. However, when a woman becomes pregnant, a hormone called relaxin is produced which loosens all the pelvic ligaments in order to allow the pelvis slight movement at the time of birth.
For some reason, the ligaments occasionally loosen too much and too early before birth. This means they can't keep the pelvic joints stable so the pelvis moves, especially on weight bearing. All this is made worse by the increased weight of the growing baby and sometimes the symphysis pubis joint actually separates slightly. The result is mild to severe pain, usually in the pubic area, and is called SPD.
What are the symptoms?
The most common is pain and difficulty when walking. Some women describe the feeling of their pelvis coming apart. The pain is made worse when turning in bed or doing something that involves standing on one leg, such as climbing up stairs, getting dressed and getting in and out of a car. The pain is generally felt in the pubis and/or the sacro-iliac joints, but can also be experienced in the groin, the inner side of the thighs, the hips and in one or both buttocks.

unfortunatly i have the sever version and very early in my pregnancy I've been suffering since 11 weeks and is accompanied by sciatic pain

Merry_Gentry

If I've read the forms right, you are cutting it a bit fine. To apply for DLA the disability has to have been 'suffered' for three months, and expected to continue for a further six months. SPD generally gets better once you have given birth (I had it with my 3rd pregnancy, and the walk from the hospital to the car after having my daughter was the first time I had managed without crutches since I was 12 weeks pregnant).

Hopefully someone with more experience of DLA will be able to confirm/refute what I have said, but I will try to find a link that explains it.

Merry_Gentry

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DisabilityLivingAllowance/DG_10011816

Here you go.

LittleTinker

As far as I know you cannot claim DLA for temporary disability, such as a broken pelvis or leg.

[Deleted User]

Merry_Gentry wrote: »

If I've read the forms right, you are cutting it a bit fine. To apply for DLA the disability has to have been 'suffered' for three months, and expected to continue for a further six months. SPD generally gets better once you have given birth (I had it with my 3rd pregnancy, and the walk from the hospital to the car after having my daughter was the first time I had managed without crutches since I was 12 weeks pregnant).

Hopefully someone with more experience of DLA will be able to confirm/refute what I have said, but I will try to find a link that explains it.

As DLA has to cover at least 9 months,i.e. 3 months before applying and expected to last at least another six months then any pregnancy related condition cant be claimed for,as a pregnancy only last 9 months

elaina79

Hi I suffer from this as well and I know how painful it can be. DLA is notoriously difficult to claim at the best of times and even with a premanant spinal deformity I haven't bothered to claim.
As it will be a temporary thing, they will probably reject the claim.

Good luck with the pregnancy I am due in June as well xx

sarahlouise210

I think you would be elligible for temporary council provided transport to school under their exceptional circumstances rules - they do not advertise ths ruling (most councils) but it does exist as I have transport provided for my daughter. Even if you cant get it free - if there is a place available they could offer it to you at a concessinary rate. The distance to school rules do not apply in these circumstances.

lolababy

You have nothing to lose by applying but get advice. You said that you have sciatic pain if this is causing problems walking you could base your claim around that.

Merry_Gentry

woodbine wrote: »

As DLA has to cover at least 9 months,i.e. 3 months before applying and expected to last at least another six months then any pregnancy related condition cant be claimed for,as a pregnancy only last 9 months

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Although saying that, SPD starts getting better from birth, so might last longer than the six months. I think I was lucky - it was almost instant relief for me (very careful birth plan, measurement of how far I could move my legs, etc to ensure no more damage was done during the birth, etc )