After childbirth, a woman’s body undergoes a number of changes. Some people are able to get back to their pre-baby body relatively easily, but others may find it impossible. A mommy makeover is designed to address multiple areas of the body at once so that you can get back to feeling like yourself as soon as possible.
If you are interested in a mommy makeover, don’t hesitate to contact the experienced plastic surgeons at Specialists in Plastic Surgery by calling 919-785-0505 to schedule your initial consultation.
What’s in a Mommy Makeover?
There is no set number of procedures included in a mommy makeover. Instead, it will be tailored to your personal goals. That being said, some of the most common procedures requested for a mommy makeover include:
After having a baby, often the breasts sag and deflate. In addition, pregnancy can stretch and loosen the abdominal muscles, which is impossible to correct with exercise and diet alone. Childbirth can also stretch the labia, and many women find it difficult to shed all of the weight put on during pregnancy.
Which procedures will best help you reach your goals can be determined during your consultation.
Who is a Candidate for a Mommy Makeover?
The most common candidates for a mommy makeover are women who have had one or more children and want to regain a slimmer, shapelier body. However, you don’t have to be a mother to be a candidate. Anyone who wants to have multiple procedures done in order to achieve a comprehensive body makeover can be a candidate.
The best candidates for a mommy makeover are:
- At or near a stable weight that they can maintain
- In good general health
- Non-smokers
- Aware of the risks and have realistic expectations
- Done having children
While having a mommy makeover will not interfere with your ability to have children, you should keep in mind that you may need revision surgery if you do have another child. This is why we recommend that your family be complete before you decide to undergo plastic surgery.
How is a mommy makeover performed?
Mommy makeovers target the areas most affected by a pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. Mommy makeovers usually consist of a tummy tuck, breast lift with or without augmentation, and liposuction. Some procedures include labiaplasty. During your consultation, we’ll discuss your goals and from there we can plan your surgery. Mommy makeovers combine these procedures into a single surgical session. Here’s a description of what your Specialists in Plastic Surgery surgeon will do during each of these procedures:
Tummy tuck
A tummy tuck targets loose skin and underlying stretched or separated muscles on the abdomen. An incision is made along the bikini line, usually from hipbone to hipbone. The underlying muscles, which have been separated by the localized weight gain of pregnancy, are pulled together and sutured for a firmer abdomen and narrower waist. The skin is then pulled down and excess is trimmed away. Your tummy tuck may just involve the lower incision, or it may also include an incision near the belly button to address sagging above the navel.
Breast lift (with or without augmentation)
The breast lift seeks to bring the breasts back up to a higher position on the chest. The incisions needed to depend on the amount of sagging. We may be able to accomplish the lift with an incision around the areola of each breast. But if more skin must be trimmed, the incision could need to extend down to the breast crease, and sometimes outward along that crease. This is known as an “anchor incision.” A lift doesn’t return lost breast volume. If you want to add volume our surgeons can add augmentation with breast implants to your breast lift. Augmentation at this time is not difficult as the implants can be placed though the incisions already made for the breast lift.
Liposuction
Stubborn pockets of fat in your abdomen and possibly your outer thighs and buttocks are the targets of the liposuction portion of your mommy makeover. These areas are almost impossible to target with exercise or diet. This procedure uses a cannula inserted through tiny incisions to suction out pockets of unwanted fat and slim your contour. We use tumescent liposuction, where a liquid solution of saline combined with adrenaline and anesthetic is injected into the treatment areas to minimize bruising, blood loss, and to help loosen the fat.
Labiaplasty
Labiaplasty is a surgical procedure to change the appearance of the external genitalia. More common is surgery to reduce the labia minora, which can overhang the outer lips. There are two options for reducing the labia minora. In a wedge incision, a vertical wedge of labia minor tissue is removed. In an edge excision, he removes tissue along the edge of the lips. Often, extra folds of the clitoral hood are also reduced at the same time.
What are the benefits of having a mommy makeover?
Mommy makeovers have the goal of giving a woman back the body she had before pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding changed everything. These changes, such as a tummy pooch, flattened sagging breasts, pockets of fat, and the like can make a woman depressed about what she lost.
Mommy makeovers specifically target the areas impacted by having children. They work to bring the breasts back to a higher position on the chest, akin to where they were in their younger days. If you’ve opted to add augmentation to your lift, you can return the volume to breasts that have deflated due to breastfeeding. This is especially true in the upper breasts. Gone will be that stomach pooch that seemed to develop overnight. In many cases, the extremely localized weight gain of pregnancy can actually separate the muscles in the center of the abdomen. No matter how many crunches you do, without surgery, you cannot bring those muscles back to the center. You may have lost all of your baby weight, but the prior accumulation has likely left pockets here and there that are impervious to diet and exercise. And delivery can stretch and distort the tissues of the outer genitalia. The labiaplasty portion of your mommy makeover can trim excess tissue away.
Plus, by having all of these procedures handled in a single surgical session, your recovery, while it will be an involved one, is only a single recovery.
What will my recovery be like after a mommy makeover?
The tummy tuck portion of a mommy makeover is the most difficult part of your recovery. The lengthy incision and repositioning of separated abdominal muscles mean you won’t be lifting anything with much weight for a few weeks. Stairs will be out of the question for a couple of weeks. Full recovery from your tummy tuck can take up to six months, but you can return to a light level of activity in one to two weeks. For your breast lift, you’ll need to be very diligent wearing your surgical bra/support bra. You’ll need to wear these bras 24 hours a day for the first month. This is important to keep from placing any stress on your incisions. In general, your first week after your surgeries will be difficult, but things will become much easier from there.
How long before I will see my full results from a mommy makeover?
You’ll need some patience after your surgery. As mentioned above, full recovery can take up to six months. But as soon as your bandages are removed, you’ll see changes underneath the bruising and swelling. These will continually improve as your swelling fully resolves and your incisions become less and less noticeable.
What are the risks involved with a mommy makeover?
This is an involved combination of surgical procedures, and it will entail all the risks inherent with any surgery: excessive bleeding, reaction to anesthesia, infection, poor incision healing, the formation of blood clots, and the like.
Specific to these procedures, the most prevalent risk is with breast augmentation (if you’ve included that with your lift). A condition known as capsular contracture, where the body forms excessive scar tissue around your implants, can require surgery to address this and likely replace the implants. There is a chance of uneven healing with the long lower tummy tuck incision.
Thanks to the expertise and training of our surgeons at Specialists in Plastic Surgery, these risks are low. Our patients from Raleigh and the surrounding areas love the results they achieve with their mommy makeovers.
What Does a Mommy Makeover Cost?
The cost of a mommy makeover will depend on how many procedures you have, as well as how complex these procedures are. It’s impossible to give an accurate quote before seeing you in person and discussing your goals.
Cost should never be the deciding factor when choosing your surgeon. We offer a range of financing options to our patients so that you don’t need to worry about paying for your entire mommy makeover upfront. Please feel free to ask us about financing during your consultation.
Schedule Your Mommy Makeover Consultation Today
If you are interested in a mommy makeover, please contact Specialists in Plastic Surgery today at 919-785-0505 to schedule your initial consultation. We will be happy to work together with you to come up with the best plan to reach your goals.
We serve patients in Raleigh, Cary, and nearby areas of North Carolina.