Everything to know about a mommy makeover

If you are a mommy, kudos to you! Motherhood is such an impressive and unselfish choice. Being a mommy ain’t an easy job, but it’s definitely the greatest and most rewarding job one can ever have.

On one hand, having children can be one of the most rewarding moments of your life. But on the other, childbirth takes a toll on your health and it could be quite depressing to see what it can do to your body.

Though most women try to restore pre-baby bodies by dieting and exercising, more often than not, they will find it hard to. Especially when they have passed their twenties. That’s why many mommies turn to plastic surgery as an alternative solution. If you have gone through childbirth and are looking to get plastic surgery to restore your pre-pregnancy body, here’s all you need to know about mommy makeovers.

What is a mommy makeover?

No doubt many women diet and exercise to try and restore their pre-pregnancy body. Some succeed, while most don’t, especially if they have undergone more than one pregnancy. This is because their skin has been drastically stretched and/or there was too much weight gain during pregnancy.

Mommy makeover is a term for a full package of cosmetic procedures aimed at restoring a woman’s body to its pre-pregnancy state. When done well, your figure could get better than pre-baby body too. Mommy makeovers target these specific parts of your body:

• Breasts
• Tummy/Abdomen
• Other areas such as arms, thighs, buttocks etc.

Plastic surgery procedures included in a mommy makeover

The classic mommy makeover only involves breast surgery and a tummy tuck, but there is no reason why you should only stick with the classics, is there? Here are some of the common cosmetic procedures in a mommy makeover package:

1. Breast surgery

After childbirth and breastfeeding, some might experience deflation of their breasts, while others, get bigger but sagging breasts. Hence, the required procedures might differ from women to women.

For those who experienced breast deflation, breast augmentation is recommended as it can help restore fullness to your breasts. It can be done in 2 ways:

• Breast augmentation through fat grafting – restore volume to your breasts by transferring fats from other parts of your body
• Breast augmentation with breast implants – restore volume and reshape your breasts by the use of breast implants

For those who ended up with big yet sagging breasts after pregnancy, these surgical procedures for breasts might be more suitable:

• Breast lift surgery – reshapes and lifts your sagging breasts for a firmer and perky look
• Breast reduction surgery – reduces overly large breasts to an optimal breast size, reshapes and slightly lifts your sagging breasts

2. Tummy tuck

During pregnancy, the skin at your tummy will overly stretch. For the lucky few with good skin elasticity, their skin bounces back to its original state after childbirth. But for most, flabby belly skin remains hanging at their tummy, no matter how much exercising and dieting they do.

In such cases, tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), is performed for a flatter tummy. A tummy tuck not only removes the excess tummy skin, but also fixes overly stretched abdominal walls by tightening your abdominal muscles.

3. Liposuction

Sometimes, during pregnancy, there is weight gain in other parts of your body such as arms, thighs, and buttocks. Though strict dieting and exercising does help, there are times when stubborn fats just can’t be removed. When that happens, many opt for liposuction. Liposuction aims at removing fats at specific areas of your body by sucking those stubborn fats out.

More often than not, liposuction, coupled with tummy tuck and breast surgery, can actually beautifully contour your figure. Sometimes to the point where you can even end up with a better and shapelier figure than your pre-baby body.

Benefits of getting a mommy makeover

By now you would have already known the main benefits of getting a mommy makeover – a shapelier and slimmer figure. But a mommy makeover does not only improve your body physically, but also mentally, and it actually does way more than it seems.

Risks of getting a mommy makeover

As with all surgeries including pregnancy, there are risks involved. So make sure that you consult a professional and skilled plastic surgeon for your mommy makeovers. Because a professional and competent plastic surgeon will recommend the appropriate surgical procedures according to what’s best for you.

When should I get my mommy makeover?

Most plastic surgeons generally recommend waiting at least 6 months after giving birth, and another 6 months after weaning, if you are breastfeeding, before getting a mommy makeover.

Breast surgeries do not affect breastfeeding but you should allow time for your breast tissues to shrink, and your body to recover from the stresses of pregnancy and childbirth before getting any plastic surgery.

Another benefit of waiting is that when your body fully recovers, you can also judge for yourself if you really need or want a mommy makeover or not. In fact, many moms do choose to wait until their children are more independent before going under the knife.

How long does the mommy makeover results last?

Results from a mummy makeover can last for a long time, depending on each individual and what they do to maintain their newly-found figure. This includes a healthy lifestyle and as long as there is no significant weight gain, the results should last just as they would with healthy aging.

However, should you get pregnant again, your results are likely to become undone. Therefore, we highly recommended you to get a mummy makeover when you are no longer planning on having more children.

How long should I stay in Korea?

Mommy makeovers in Korea are considered extensive surgeries but hospitalization is not required. But depending on the number of procedures done, more time might be needed, especially if your surgeries are done on separate days. So, do stay until your stitches are removed.

Stitch removal

Stitches are usually removed 7~10 days after surgery.

Cautions on stitch removal

If you remove the stitches earlier then advised, your wound might reopen, causing an infection. And if you remove it too late, you risk further scarring and pigmentation.

Sometimes due to time constraints, you might consider having your stitches removed at the local hospitals in your home country. Although that is possible (but not recommended), it depends on how well you have been healing and is also subjected to doctor’s approval.

What other surgeries complement mommy makeovers?

1. Fat grafting for face

By putting the fats extracted from liposuction unto your face, fat grafting can restore volume to your face, making you look younger!

2. Arm lift surgery

For those who want to remove excess flabby skin on your arms which cannot be removed by weight loss and firming exercises.

3. Nipple reduction surgery

If your nipples have become elongated and overstretched after breastfeeding, you might want to consider nipple reduction surgery to improve the appearance of your nipples at the same time.

4. Areola reduction surgery

When your areola area is too big for your breast size, size it down at the same time when getting breast surgery.

Conclusion

Being a mommy is great and rewarding but we cannot deny that pregnancy does take a toll on your health and disfigures your body. And there is no doubt that mommy makeovers are a quick way to restore your pre-pregnancy figure.

But undergoing a mummy makeover does not only improve your body shape but also promote a more positive self-image and boost your self-confidence as well. The only downside – scars, but thankfully, scars lighten and fade as time passes.

And if you are a mummy who dreams of reverting to your pre-baby figure, or maybe even hoping for an improvement, there is no doubt that mommy makeovers can help achieve that.