Pregnancy is the most well known form of tissue expansion that has been around since the beginning of time. While it produces the most miraculous event of life that comes out pristine, it leaves behind a body that is often far less than perfect. For some women, childbirth can wreck literal havoc on a woman’s body. If you throw in breast feeding and a lot of lost sleep, further wear and tear on the body occurs. Fortunately, plastic surgery has come up with a variety of cosmetic procedures to combat the ‘mommy look’ and help restore a woman’s body.
Now widely referred to as the“Mommy Makeover”, it is a collection of female body reshaping procedures that focus on the breasts and abdomen- the two body areas that bear the brunt of the effects of pregnancy. These can include breast lifts to reposition sagging breasts and breast implants to bring back a woman’s cup sizeor make them bigger than before. Occasionally, breast reductions may be needed to reduce breasts that may have become enlarged and stayed so long after delivery. Abdominal procedures include mini- and full tummy tucks to tighten loose stomach muscles and get rid off sagging skin around the belly button and that which hangs down to or over the waistline. Liposuction is part of many tummy tucks and is also used to eliminate unwanted pockets of fat from the muffin tops, back, and even the puffy pubis.
None of these plastic surgery procedures are new, but combining them all at once in a single surgery is. Combining breast and abdominal reshaping can create the most dramatic changes ever seen in a woman between the shoulders and the hips. Some women can never return to exactly the way they looked before children even with the best of plastic surgery, but others can end up looking more shapely than before pregnancy.
While many women get stellar results with a Mommy Makeover, it is not right for everyone. The best candidates are those women who are finished having children and are done with breast feeding. One should have made a good effort with diet and exercise to get the best body possible before surgery, and have sufficient time off and support to allow for an adequate recovery. While some women are anxious to begin the process of a Mommy Makeover shortly after giving birth to their last child, it is often better to wait for at least 6 months to a year.
Most Mommy Makeovers are done on an outpatient basis under general anesthesia. No really significant breast and abdominal changes can be done within the limits of local and sedation anesthesia. Real body changes requires real surgery…and recovery.
While some women bounce back from pregnancy like nothing ever happened, other women struggle with feeling their bodies have been ravaged after pregnancy. Mommy Makeovers can reverse years of damage to a woman’s body in just a few hours.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana