Mommy Makeover – What You Need to Know

306

A mommy makeover is a complex surgical procedure that aims to restore the pre-baby body. Many women decide to have multiple pregnancies and enjoy motherhood while they still can. However, each pregnancy and each act of breastfeeding leave marks on the body. The source of joy is there, but so are the marks and lax skin of the tummy and the breasts.

For this reason, many proud mothers decide to restore their bodies to their pre-baby era. Childbearing leaves marks on the breasts, the abdomen, the hips, the thighs, and the private parts; these are the parts that are operated on in an average mommy makeover. While some women may just go for breasts and the tummy, others decide to go all in and use the recovery period the best they can.

Mommy Makeover – What Is It?

Mommy makeover is a complex surgical procedure that restores the body after pregnancy and breastfeeding. It is a very versatile surgical procedure as well since it can be adjusted to every single patient and their needs. Based on what you need and where you want to take your body after a mommy makeover procedure, you may decide to have:

• A Breast Lift,
• Breast Augmentation,
• Liposuction,
• Abdominal Surgery (Tummy Tuck),
• Labiaplasty, and
• Brazilian Butt Lift.

All these procedures together make up a mommy makeover. Depending on your needs, you can also decide to have one or more of these – they are available on demand for as long as your experienced plastic surgeon agrees that they are safe to perform on you. Again, no two bodies are the same, and you may decide that the Brazilian Butt Lift is simply not a good procedure for you.

Do I need a Mommy Makeover?

With this in mind, it is now time to consider if you need a mommy makeover in the first place. If you had a child or more of them, you might find that your body is tired and that your youthful contours are gone. You may also experience saggy skin and self-confidence issues. You may also:

• Have stretch marks on your tummy,
• Have accumulated body fat deposits that are difficult to get rid of with a diet and an exercise regime,
• Have widened hips and love handles that you do not like,
• Have changes in the looks, symmetry, or the color of your private parts,
• Have discomfort during intimate relations with your partner as the result of these changes,
• Experience laxity of the breast tissue and the skin, as well as changes in the shape, size, color, and symmetry of your areolas,
• Have pain or sore nipples when you jog/workout,
• Experience widened abdominal muscles that you would like to have made slimmer, effectively making your waist slimmer as well,
• Have buttocks of different sizes or shapes that you would like to have recontoured,
• Experience emotional distress for any of the aforementioned reasons and restrain yourself from social and sporting activities due to these reasons.

What is the Purpose of a Mommy Makeover?

The purpose of a mommy makeover is to restore your confidence and self-image, as well as remove any pain and discomfort (both physical and emotional) that you may experience on an average day. This procedure addresses:

• Loose, elongated, and sore breasts,
• Lax skin on the belly,
• Excess fat deposits throughout the body.

It also reshapes your breasts, waist, hips, thighs, and intimate parts for a better self-image and a more confident body that shows that the best period in your life is yet to come. You may choose to have a mommy makeover for both medical and cosmetic reasons:

Medical Reasons

Medical reasons to get a mommy makeover include sore and painful breasts, lax skin around the belly that is prone to infection, and excess fatty deposits that may damage the skin during physical activity (especially in the inner thigh). Additionally, medical reasons to get a mommy makeover include irritability of the inner labia, repeated infections in the same region, as well a lax vaginal wall that results in painful, intimate moments with your partner, and a decrease in libido. If you decide to have a mommy makeover for medical reasons, consult your health insurance company and see what kind of coverage they can provide for you.

Cosmetic Reasons

Moreover, you can decide to have a mommy makeover for cosmetic reasons. These reasons include lower self-esteem, general dissatisfaction with your body, and other reasons of emotional and esthetic nature that may make you inclined to go for a mommy makeover. Your insurance will not cover the costs of this type of surgery.

What Does the Mommy Package Include?

Whichever reasons you may want to have a mommy makeover, you should know that this is a complex surgical procedure and that thorough preparation is needed. You should consult your specialist plastic surgeon and listen to their advice before agreeing to anything. A mommy makeover generally includes the following procedures:

• A Breast Lift,
• Breast Augmentation,
• Liposuction,
• Abdominal Surgery (Tummy Tuck),
• Labiaplasty, and
• Brazilian Butt Lift.

You may choose whichever combination of these procedures you would like. Abdominoplasty, or bringing back together loose and widened abdominal muscles, is included in most tummy tuck procedures but can be left out if you are satisfied with your waist. Moreover, you can also decide not to have a Brazilian Butt Lift, as this is a risky procedure. Whatever your decision, your experienced plastic surgeon will guide you through the whole process to ensure both safety and quick recovery.

Mommy Makeover Before and After

This checkup includes a thorough checkup in their office. You should be ready to outline all your worries and concerns and provide enough health details so that your surgeon knows what your health status is. Your surgeon will also give you detailed advice on how to behave and what to eat before the surgery to ensure a low inflammation rate and a quick recovery.

Once your procedure is done and your body has healed, you will be able to enjoy tighter skin, no skin flaps, reshaped body contours, and full, voluminous breasts that you once had. You will also have smaller and more symmetrical inner labia. All these changes contribute to the high satisfaction rate with mommy makeover procedures.

Mommy Makeover Procedure

The procedure itself involves a number of steps. Depending on the mommy package you have chosen, after you are put to sleep, your surgeon will proceed to perform one procedure at a time. We will explain all of them, but remember that your experience may differ based on the final goal you may want to achieve. You will be asleep during all these procedures and will not feel anything.

Liposuction

Liposuction is usually the first step in a mommy makeover procedure. Your surgeon will usually do this step first, as it reveals the true contours of your body and makes it easier for the surgeon to take further steps. The fat that is extracted can be completely discarded, or it can be purified and saved for later steps in mommy makeover:

• Fat transfer breast augmentation,
• Brazilian butt lift,
• Recontouring of the face,
• Sole fat pad reconstruction, especially in women who do a lot of sports, such as jogging and running.

A Breast Lift

To perform the breast lift, your surgeon will first observe your breasts and see if there is any ptosis or hanging off the nipple beyond the line where the breast meets the chest on the underside. Your surgeon will then proceed to carefully remove excess skin and bring the remaining tissues together for smaller breasts with more firmness. During this procedure, your areolas may be made smaller as well if you were not satisfied with their size or proportions.

Breast Augmentation

The next step is breast augmentation or breast implant placement (boob job). This is a single step in reshaping your breasts, which involves placing a silicone implant either behind the chest muscle or on top of the muscle. The implant can stay inside for up to 10 years when it should be replaced.

Abdominal Surgery (Tummy Tuck)

During the tummy tuck procedure, your surgeon will make an incision on the belly below the belly button. The incision will be made in such a place so that it is always covered by your underwear and swimwear. The surgeon will then make an incision around the belly button and proceed to lift the skin, exposing your abdominal muscles.

If the two columns of the muscles got separated as your tummy got larger during pregnancy, your surgeon will bring them back together and suture them. Some surgeons will do up to three suture applications to ensure that sutures stay in place. Your tummy skin is then overlapped on the lower side, a new hole for the belly button is excised, and excess skin is removed. As the final step of the tummy tuck, the surgeon will place sutures and proceed.

Labiaplasty

As labiaplasty is a fairly simple procedure, it is usually saved as one of the final steps in the procedure. In labiaplasty, your surgeon will trim excess tissue from the inner labia and suture the excision site. You will be left with rejuvenated labia and younger-looking privates.

Brazilian Butt Lift

Brazilian butt lift can be the final part of your mommy makeover, although you may opt not to have it at all. During this procedure, your specialist plastic surgeon will take the fat that was saved from the liposuction part of the mommy makeover and will transfer it into your buttocks by means of injecting the fatty cells rather than through an incision.

After all these procedures have taken place, you will be woken up and may have to stay in the clinic overnight, considering the scope of the surgery and the time spent under sedation. You will receive additional instructions considering your recovery and will need to stay away from your workplace for a few weeks.

Mommy Makeover Recovery

Considering that a mommy makeover is an extensive procedure, the recovery itself will take a bit of a long time. Needless to say, this period should be spent stress-free and in a quiet, clean environment. For the first couple of days, avoid moving too much. Make regular visits to the restroom, as needed and carefully. Slowly resume walking around the house and the neighborhood during the first week and follow the signals your body sends you. Resume household activities during the second and the third week, with no heavy lifting. You can go back to work three to four weeks post-surgery if your recovery is going well.

Mommy Makeover Side Effects

Mommy makeover is a complex surgical procedure that may result in some side effects. Being healthy and taking care of your body both before and after the procedure is necessary to reduce the risks. Common side effects of a mommy makeover include:

• Discomfort,
• Mild discharge from the wounds,
• Swelling,
• Seratoma,
• Numbness close to the incision sites,
• Additional side effects include adverse reactions to the anesthetic, including difficulties waking up from sedation and tissue necrosis.

How Much Is a Mommy Makeover?

A mommy makeover includes a lot of procedures and a long time spent in the surgical theater. For this reason, your mommy makeover procedure will cost anywhere between $10,000 to $20,000 and even more, depending on additional procedures you may want to have. You should know that most of the mommy makeover procedures are voluntary and will, most probably, not be covered by insurance.

Mommy Makeover FAQs

Final Considerations

A mommy makeover is a complex medical procedure that involves several smaller procedures. As such, it can help remove several issues new and old moms may be facing: lax tummy skin, breasts not as firm as in their youth, as well as changes in the looks of their inner labia. A mommy makeover is a set of procedures that can rejuvenate your entire body and give you the desired contours.