We see it everyday in our office: women who have had kids, and suddenly their bodies just don’t look the way they used to anymore. Childbearing takes a toll on a woman’s body, causing sagging breasts, protruding tummies, and fat rolls where none may have existed before. While a lot of moms have traditionally felt bad wanting to do something cosmetic for themselves, the tide has changed and many mothers realize that they don’t have to feel guilty for wanting to feel sexy and confident in their own skin. Due to this shifting mindset, the Mommy Makeover has become increasingly popular.
The term “Mommy Makeover” is really just a catch-all phrase that encompasses anything a woman decides she would like to have done cosmetically, post-childbirth. Typically, it includes a tummy tuck (also known as abdominoplasty) and a breast lift, and sometimes a woman will add a breast augmentation, liposuction, and occasionally even labiaplasty.
For the Mommy Makeover I decided to document for this blog, Dr. Christian Prada and I headed to Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital in Creve Coeur, MO.
Please note, the images below do show an actual surgery and may contain material that some might find offensive.
This patient had an extended tummy tuck, breast lift, and breast augmentation. Below, her “before” photos are shown. Her 2 month “after” photos are at the end of the post.
After the patient was safely anesthetized, Dr. Prada made markings for the breast procedures. This patient had considerable ptosis of the breast, or sagging, so Dr. Prada marked her for an anchor breast lift. The scars for this type of lift form what looks like an anchor shape on the woman’s breast: a circle around the nipple, a straight line down the front of the breast, and a slightly curved line hidden in the breast crease. This lift gives the surgeon the option to sculpt away the most breast tissue, and will restore a youthful shape. There is some volume loss with this procedure so, like many women, the patient also opted for a silicone augmentation to restore that fullness.
Marks were also placed on the abdomen for the tummy tuck. The tummy tuck scar placement is dependant upon how much loose skin a patient has. For an extended tummy tuck, the scar extends past the hipbone on each side, providing Dr. Prada a way to trim loose skin around the flanks as well as abdomen.
Dr. Prada began the procedure with the breast augmentation and lift. A detailed account of breast augmentation itself can be found here. In this photo, Dr. Prada and his nurse are preparing the pocket for the insertion of the implant sizer, which they inflated until a reasonable size was reached.
The right breast below has a sizer in place, the left does not.
Once Dr. Prada had sizers in both sides, he sat the patient up in the OR, and made sure both breasts were symmetrical and at the volume he found flattering to the patient’s body size.
At this point, Dr. Prada performed the actual lift, tightening the breast tissue around the sizers he had placed.
While the resulting breast lift scars resemble an anchor, the incisions themselves are keyhole shaped. This allowed Dr. Prada to trim and tighten excess skin, correct the breast place placement on the chest if needed, and reduce the size of the areola if needed as well.
When the excess skin was excised, Dr. Prada took out the sizers, put in the actual silicone implants, and began the closure.
At this point, Dr. Prada moved on to the tummy tuck portion of the surgery. Before he made the long abdominal incision, he made a new opening for the belly button.
In the clip below, he uses a Bovie, a surgical tool that utilizes high-frequency electric current, to cut the tissue along the pubic line.
During the tummy tuck, the skin is pulled downwards to create a smooth stomach. Dr. Prada “tailor-tacks” the skin to determine just how much he could safely stretch and cut off.
Women who have had children usually need their stomach muscles repaired during a tummy tuck, as pregnancy will cause these muscles to stretch and tear. The technical term for this is abdominal diastasis, and it causes a “pouch” look to the abdomen. Permanent sutures were used to bring the edges of the rectus muscles back together.
Once the muscles were repaired, Dr. Prada closed the wound, leaving a very low incision that can generally be covered by underwear and bathing suits.
After surgery, the patient was taken to recovery, and discharged the next day. Because she had a tummy tuck, an Dr. Prada recommended an overnight stay in the hospital for safe monitoring. The tummy tuck is one of the most painful procedures we do, so pain medication is generally needed. Although walking is difficult, we advise all patients to walk the halls as much as possible before being discharged, as walking will help speed up recovery.
At two months, her scars are still healing, but you can see the incredible change in her body.
If you’re interested in learning more about Mommy Makeover procedures, feel free to ask us here, or call our office at 636-530-6161.
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