A glass of fizz for benefits mum expecting 12th baby
SHE costs taxpayers more than £39,000 a year in benefits and is due to give birth to her 12th child via an NHS caesarean because she says she is ‘too posh to push’.
So it was hardly surprising that Cheryl Prudham, 33, tried to portray an upmarket image after being spotted sipping a glass of bubbly in the spring sunshine.
The mother of 11 was seen enjoying a bottle of prosecco while on a family trip to Bournemouth with her husband and children.
Mrs Prudham, from Gravesend, Kent, admits she is ‘addicted’ to having babies but doesn’t want a natural birth, because it is ‘too painful’.
She is due to give birth to her seventh daughter, Tilly Grace, next month but has already spent ‘hundreds’ of pounds on new outfits for the baby girl.
She is on the waiting list for a bigger council house in a ‘more upmarket area’, arguing that she and husband Robert, 30, need more space for their ever-expand- ing family, and a ‘brand-new, smart kitchen’.
Mrs Prudham has even suggested that the council knock two houses into one to accommodate the family. Last month, it emerged the couple were planning to renew their wedding vows during a ‘no- expense-spared’ trip to Las Vegas where they plan on trying for baby No 13.
Mr Prudham has had a vasectomy but is due to have it reversed so the couple can have a baby called ‘Vegas’. Mrs Prudham plans to wear a £3,000 designer gown for the ceremony.
Earlier this month she told a Sunday newspaper: ‘I know a caesarean costs more, but I don’t care. I know more about giving birth than most people and I don’t want to put my body through labour again.
‘It’s so much easier to have a caesarean. Some celebrities say they are too posh to push, so why can’t I?’
The Prudhams claim £39,192 in benefits a year on top of Mr Prudham’s monthly salary of £1,600 as a delivery driver – bringing their total annual income to almost £60,000.
The couple manage to avoid the Government’s £26,000-a-year cap on state handouts because Mr Prudham works enough hours to claim working tax credits.