Candidates for a Mommy Makeover
There’s no doubt that having children can bring tremendous joy to a woman’s life. However, the process of pregnancy and childbirth can also bring physical changes that are far from easy to reverse. Loose, sagging skin, drooping breasts, lax abdominal muscles, unwanted love handles and stubborn fat deposits can all cause a mom to feel self-conscious and concerned about her appearance. Whilst diet and exercise can help shift the baby weight and tone some areas of the body, there are plenty that will not respond as well as you’d like. Fortunately, there are cosmetic surgery procedures that can lend a hand in helping moms to regain their pre-baby shape again.
A mommy makeover is a name given to a treatment plan that involves a combination of cosmetic surgical procedures that are designed to reverse the effects of pregnancy and childbirth. Wherever possible, these treatments are combined into a single surgery so that busy moms only need to schedule one pre-operative assessment, one procedure and one recovery period.
There are many different surgical procedures that can be included in a mommy makeover, with some of the most popular including:
Breast lift
Breast augmentation
Liposuction
Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)
Brazilian butt lift
Vaginal rejuvenation
Your surgeon will be able to advise you which treatments will be most effective at improving the areas of your body that you wish to target.
Am I a Candidate for a Mommy Makeover?
Before you can be approved for a mommy makeover, you will need to have your candidacy assessed by your surgeon. Not only is this appointment designed to check that you are healthy enough for surgery and that the procedure is suitable, but also to assess your state of mind and ensure that you are both having a mommy makeover for the right reasons and that you have reasonable expectations for the results.
People who are generally considered to be good candidates for a mommy makeover tend to have a number of things in common. These include:
Good general health. Unsurprisingly, one of the most important things that your surgeon will assess is your general health. Mommy makeover procedures are carried out under general anesthetic and so it is important that you are considered to be low risk for complications resulting from anesthesia. If you are taking any medications, you must talk to your surgeon about these to ensure that you can continue to take them as normal. It may be that you need to switch to an alternative medication for some of the time around your mommy makeover.
Be a healthy weight. It is important to be aware that a mommy makeover is not a weight loss procedure, but is designed to improve and enhance your current body shape. If you go on to lose a considerable amount of weight after a mommy makeover, the effects of some of the procedures that you have undergone may be undone. For example, if you lose a great deal of weight off of your abdomen, you could be left with more lax muscles and loose skin again. Maintaining a healthy weight is also better for lowering your risk of complications during the surgery itself.
A completed family. It is strongly recommended that women who undergo a mommy makeover have made the decision that their family is complete and are prepared to take steps to ensure this. This is because, like gaining weight, becoming pregnant again could reverse the effects of the procedures that you have had.
A non-smoker and only drink in moderation. Smoking is a huge problem when it comes to any surgical procedure because not only is it bad for your general health, but it also massively increases your risk of complications such as a post-operative infection. Smoking has also been shown to slow down the healing process, meaning that your recovery could take a lot longer than expected. Similarly, excessive alcohol consumption is not recommended at any time, but particularly in the time around a surgical procedure.
Positive mental health. Your surgeon will need to be convinced that you have the right state of mind to undergo this lengthy and complex set of surgeries, which will also be accompanied by a considerable recovery period. They must also feel reassured that you are undergoing surgery for your own confidence and self-esteem and not because you have been coerced or are responding to the comments of others.
If you would like to find out if you are a candidate for a mommy makeover, our discreet and dedicated cosmetic surgery team would be delighted to assist you. Please contact our offices in Metairie, LA to schedule your confidential consultation.
