So What is a Mommy Makeover?

The term “mommy makeover” has been coined to describe a combination of cosmetic surgical procedures consisting mainly of tummy tuck, breast augmentation, breast lift and liposuction. The mommy makeover is meant to restore your pre-pregnancy body. Everyone knows that having a baby can result in weight gain, excess tummy skin, reduced breast size or sagging breasts due to breast involution. Of course this may not occur in certain athletes, but how many us had the figure we want to begin with?

Weight gain during pregnancy is inevitable, and this may ultimately result in the need for a mommy makeover. The amount of sagging skin after pregnancy will depend on genetics, how much weight was gained, and skin elasticity. More than the skin is involved however. The abdominal muscles also stretch and separate to make room for that new occupant in your belly. This is called diastasis. Athletic women with good genetics may very well be able to diet and exercise their way back to that flat belly, but for many women abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) in combination with liposuction is certainly the best bet for restoring that pre-pregnancy belly.

In addition to weight gain after pregnancy, breast involution can occur after pregnancy. Breast involution is the process of the milk creating system in the breast shrinking when it is not needed anymore. Research has shown that this happens whether or not a woman breastfeeds her baby. Of course the stretching of the breast tissue during pregnancy, which includes the ligaments that support the skin and tissue, contributes to “sagginess” as well. Any fat lost in the body that is not replaced will cause will cause a loss of volume and may result in so called “saggy skin.”

There are pros and cons to undergoing multiple surgical procedures at once. Less recovery time, lower cost, better results in symmetry, quicker total recovery time are on the plus side, but stress on the immune system is on the minus side. You must be in good health. Surgery should be limited to six hours therefore the amount of surgical work needed will be considered. Whether or not you are a candidate for multiple corrections at one time will depend upon your general health and the extent of the work to be done.

Now you know what a “Mommy Makeover” is and why so many women want these procedures. Here at Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery I am happy to provide a consultation to see if a Mommy Makeover is for you.

Call Melinda, my Patient/Surgery Coordinator, at the Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery Center to set up your appointment.

—Dr. Branman