I was recently asked by a local reporter to comment about some stories she had read concerning the dangerous practices of certain types of celebrity Mommy-Make-Over’s. She wanted to know if there were some exclusive, secret treatments or procedures that the stars got after delivery that allowed them to quickly regain their pre-baby shape that the rest of the women of the world were being denied access to. First of all, let me say this, the plastic surgeons of the world are just not that good at keeping secrets. As soon as one of us discovers something that improves their results, the rest of us are soon doing the same thing. So much for the conspiracy theory!
So what are some of the myths and legends of the starlets’ post-baby recovery?
My personal favorite is the “C-tuck”. This is probably the most-rumored about post-baby procedure. It is the combination of a caesarean-section and an abdominoplasty(tummy tuck) with the idea being that at the time of delivery, the OB performs a C-section and then the plastic surgeon comes into the room and performs a tummy tuck removing the excess skin and fatty tissues. I know of no starlet that has acknowledged having had a “C-tuck” procedure and I know that plastic surgeons and obstetricians are opposed to performing these procedures in such a setting-and with good reason!!! First of all, let’s get back to the most important thing regarding this entire process-the safety of the mother and the baby! Any combination of procedures increases the risks of complications such as infections, bleeding, blood clots, etc. Second, as a plastic surgeon, I doubt the claims of “WOW” results from an abdominoplasty performed at the same time as a C-section. This really is an issue of hormones and timing. In the last trimester of pregnancy, the mother’s skin and soft-tissues are under the influence of her maternal hormones to become very stretchy and elastic. This allows the skin and tissues to stretch to accommodate the baby’s increasing size and of course help the pelvis enlarge to allow passage of the baby through the birth canal. When a plastic surgeon performs a tummy-tuck, the surgeon places a significant amount of tension and pull on the skin and soft-tissues in order to regain that taunt, crisp abdominal appearance the woman desires to achieve with her tummy-tuck surgery. If these abdominal tissues are programmed to give and stretch, then a significant amount of relapse and looseness is certain to return. Lastly, all of the studies show that there are too many C-sections performed in this country as it is right now; the last thing we need is another reason to have even more C-sections than necessary.
Another of the Hollywood rumor is that certain celebrities have actually had their C-sections performed electively in the eighth month of their pregnancy. The reasoning is that the starlet avoids the last month of pregnancy and all of the stretching and tissue shifting that is rumored to occur when the baby “drops” into the pelvis. I know of no obstetrician who would risk the safety of the baby by electively performing an early C-section in the eighth month of pregnancy when the baby is still developing in order to help Mom avoid stretch marks!!!
So how do those starlets regain that figure so fast after delivery? Well, the secret actually starts well before the star becomes pregnant. Most of the stars practice very discipline exercise and diet programs in order to keep their shape and figure. After all, this is how many of them make their money! (They don’t get their roles just for their acting skills!) With pregnancy, most stars continue to work out and diet though modifying their programs to fit into their maternity program. It is rare that a starlet gains a lot of weight and flab during her pregnancy so there is less to lose after delivery. Once that baby arrives and the OB says, “Go”, it is right back to the gym and on the diet for most of the stars. While not everyone can afford a live-in chef or have a personal trainer, with today’s internet information about responsible nutrition and dieting and the multitude of gyms with their personal training programs, most women after childbirth can practice what the stars do to regain that pre-baby shape.
Tomorrow-when is it time to call in the plastic surgeon to regain that pre-baby shape?
Leave a Reply