Plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dustin C. Derrick, MD is proud to lead our team of beauty specialists at Cosmetic Surgery of DFW for mommy makeovers in Fort Worth, TX. His mission is to provide customized solutions to mothers’ insecurities because he believes every mother is unique and deserves personalized treatment.
Maternity is a beautiful journey. Carrying a child and nursing are life-changing experiences. However, they also result in irrevocable changes to the body. The price of the beautiful journey of maternity is an ever-changing body shape that may leave a new mother feeling self-conscious about her postnatal body. Here’s what you need to know about how a mommy makeover can help, including what procedures are included.
What Is a Mommy Makeover?
A mommy makeover is akin to a package treatment of several cosmetic procedures designed to address a wide array of postnatal body concerns. Regardless of how much pregnancy changes your life for the better, your body changes forever. If you are uncomfortable with those changes, you’re not alone. Your legs change shape, your hips widen, you notice changes to your breast tissue volume, and your stomach stretches. You may even notice changes in the shape and position of your breasts.
After delivery, you may not have the time, desire, or energy to maintain an ideal workout routine. Along with a new addition to the family it is no wonder that so many new moms can’t restore their prenatal bodies on their own. Newborns require a lot of physical, mental, and emotional energy from their moms. A mommy makeover will quickly restore the ideal shape you had before giving birth or help you achieve the body you’ve been working towards for years.
What Procedures Are Included?
We tailor each makeover to the individual client. Some women have issues with their breasts, abdomen, hips, and legs. Other women only have one or two problem areas. It is important to note that we offer several treatment options for each area of concern.
During your initial consultation, we will assess your unique cosmetic goals and discuss the advantages of each treatment method for each target area. Also, note that while most mothers target the breasts, abdomen, hips, and legs for cosmetic improvements after pregnancy, your customized makeover can target other areas of concern, like your buttocks or upper arms.
Breasts
Breast tissue is commonly the most apparent region affected by maternity. Over the course of a short year or two, pregnancy and breastfeeding cause rapid changes to breast volume. This may result in breasts that don’t look like they did before you became pregnant. During pregnancy, women often see their breasts increase in size. Nursing is often accompanied by a reduction of breast volume.
Once you have stopped lactating, you may experience moderate-to-severe laxity in your breast skin. We offer several ways to change the size and shape of your breasts to boost your self-confidence. You can achieve a natural, more satisfactory appearance through breast reduction, breast augmentation, and several types of breast lifts.
Abdominoplasty
After childbirth, the abdomen is incredibly difficult to tone. Throughout pregnancy, the muscles, skin, and adipose tissue in the stomach stretch. Additionally, C-section scars or stretch marks can seem to be a permanent fixture. Eventually, it becomes apparent that creams, a healthy diet, and regular exercise will not restore your abdomen.
Abdominoplasty, sometimes known as a tummy tuck, is a popular procedure because it tightens loose skin, eliminates a bit of excess fat, tones the abdominal walls and minimizes the appearance of scars and stretch marks. Although abdominoplasty is traditionally an extensive procedure, there are some non-invasive ways to improve the appearance and elasticity of your skin.
Liposuction
Over the course of most pregnancies, weight gain occurs. Some of this weight is related directly to carrying a child. However, some of the weight gain is caused by storing extra fat throughout the body. A little extra stored fat can support a healthy pregnancy. Nonetheless, new moms often struggle to rid themselves of this excess energy storage once they have given birth. Liposuction is often performed on the hips, thighs, and upper arms.
Nevertheless, it can also be combined with abdominoplasty in cases of a large accumulation of abdominal fat deposits. Abdominoplasty only excises a small amount of fat. When you come in for your initial evaluation, we can help you determine which permanent fat removal method would be the best for you.
Vaginal Rejuvenation
We also offer several treatments designed to facilitate vaginal rejuvenation. For example, we offer labiaplasty to benefit women experiencing significant laxity around the clitoris or labia minora. During this procedure, Dustin C. Derrick, MD can also remove excess tissue from the region. This can make wearing tight clothing more comfortable and improve your self-confidence significantly.
What To Expect Throughout the Process
Although a mommy makeover involves several procedures to address all of your post-pregnancy body concerns, the process is the same as any other procedure. All journeys to restoring or achieving an ideal figure begin the same way. However, the precise scope of the restoration affects some factors, including whether general anesthesia will be used.
Your Initial Consultation
Your initial consultation involves discussing your cosmetic goals. During this first appointment, we will review the changes you want to make to your appearance and explain the advantages of various treatment methods. We will also discuss your medical history and current health at this point in the process. If you are taking certain drugs to treat an illness and can’t stop taking those drugs temporarily, that may affect the treatment options available to you.
We will also discuss your family planning, including whether you see additional children in your future, if you are still nursing and how long it has been since you gave birth. This will also help us determine which options will be the most appropriate for you. We usually advise our clients to hold off on restorative procedures for at least a year after giving birth and stop nursing to prepare for the procedures.
Preparing for Your Procedures
We will provide you with pre-op care steps for each procedure you choose. Depending on the treatment methods of your choosing, you may need to stop using products with certain active ingredients or potential side effects. For example, you should stop taking any drugs that can thin your blood. You will also probably need someone to drive you to and from your makeover. You may not drive within 24 hours of receiving general anesthesia.
Whether you receive general anesthesia will be determined based on your personal preference, your heart and lung health, and the scope of your procedures. These pre-op rules will be discussed more thoroughly during your initial consultation.
Steps Taken During Treatment
Anesthesia
Again, the scope of your procedure plays a significant role in determining whether general or local anesthesia will be administered before your treatment. Most makeovers involve several procedures being performed at once. In such cases, sedation through general anesthesia or in addition to a local anesthetic is usually recommended to keep you comfortable throughout the entire process.
Treatments
We will advise you regarding what to expect during each procedure performed to complete your makeover during your initial consultation. Your entire makeover may take between three and eight hours to complete depending on the number of procedures you wish to receive and the scope of the procedures.
Post-Treatment Care Steps
When your makeover is complete, we will provide you with a comprehensive set of post-treatment care steps. For the smoothest possible recovery, follow all of these guidelines as closely as possible. Some of the steps you must take to recover as quickly as possible include:
- Avoiding certain medications
- Applying cold compresses
- Taking certain medications as prescribed
- Keeping the treated areas clean and dry
Recovery
The most compelling benefit of receiving a mommy makeover is the recovery for all of the treatments happens simultaneously. You will still need to take several days or weeks off from work to focus on resting and healing. You will also be advised to avoid strenuous activity for a period of time. However, most women are usually free to return to normal activities within a month of receiving their restorative procedures.
Coming in for follow-up appointments at our conveniently located office will be included in your recovery process. These appointments are crucial for ensuring you are healing as you should from each of your procedures. During these follow-up appointments, we will advise you on when it is safe for you to resume such daily activities as work or sports.
Results
You can expect to see the results of your makeover slowly as your skin heals and adjusts to your new contours. Depending on the procedures you receive, you may notice immediate improvements, such as abdominal muscle strength and tone or an increase or decrease in breast volume.
However, if you receive liposuction without a procedure or treatment to tighten your skin, it can take up to several weeks for your skin to settle tightly against your new, slimmer figure.
Ideal Candidates
The ideal candidate for a mommy makeover is a woman who is dissatisfied with her appearance after giving birth. To be considered a good candidate, you cannot still be breastfeeding. Due to the amount of energy required for your skin to heal after these procedures, it is advisable to consider restorative procedures after you have finished breastfeeding.
Due to the amount of energy lost while nursing, you may want to wait up to a year after breastfeeding to consider restorative procedures. Additionally, the ideal candidate for restorative procedures plans to have no more children. Pregnancy after restorative procedures is safe but the results of the procedures may be diminished and you may need follow-up procedures depending on how your body responds to the pregnancy and nursing.
A Note on Nursing
Let us know if you believe the time is right for restorative procedures but you plan on having more children in the future. Again, the ideal candidate is done having children. However, if you are unsure if you will have more children in the future, let us know during your initial consultation. You may still qualify as a candidate for restorative procedures and we will ensure the techniques we use will not affect your ability to nurse in the future.
Book an Appointment to Learn More
If you think a mommy makeover will benefit you, we invite you to book an appointment with Dustin C. Derrick, MD at Cosmetic Surgery of DFW in Fort Worth, TX by giving us a call at 817-529-4314. We can’t wait to help you restore your prenatal body so you can spend less time worrying about how you look and more time enjoying the beautiful journey of motherhood.
