Like it or not, your body is bound to look significantly different after having a baby. Losing the extra pregnancy weight is a good start to restore your former body, but you may also find some cosmetic differences that you cannot improve on your own. At Muse Plastic Surgery, we offer customized mommy makeover plans to women who miss having a trimmer, firmer body. In this blog, our surgeons describe what types of changes you can anticipate following pregnancy, as well as what you can do to improve these changes.
Changes to Your Abdomen
It’s no surprise that your belly expands during pregnancy, but you may not have given as much thought to the fact that the surrounding skin must stretch to fit over your larger midsection. If you are young and have great skin elasticity, this skin should eventually retract to fit smoothly around your normal size once you have lost the baby weight. Many women are not so lucky, however. Your skin may stay stretched, leaving you with excess skin (a “muffin top”) around your stomach. Dieting and exercise can help get rid of the fat you gained during pregnancy, but it is ineffective at eliminating loose skin.
Changes to Your Breasts
Beginning in your first trimester, your breasts and areolas will enlarge in preparation for breastfeeding. Depending on your age and the elasticity of your skin, you may discover that stretch marks develop on your breasts since the skin must quickly expand to accommodate the larger breast size. By the time you are done breastfeeding, your breasts should return to a smaller size, but there is no guarantee that they will be the same size as they were before your pregnancy.
How Plastic Surgery Can Help
After experiencing these changes, wanting to make improvements to your post-pregnancy body is more than understandable. Becoming a mother does not mean that you must give up pride in your own appearance.
Dr. Jones and Dr. Lovell can make improvements to the loose skin around your stomach with a tummy tuck. This surgery not only tightens your belly skin but also rejoins abdominal muscles that get forced apart during pregnancy to recreate a firm abdominal wall. If you have lingering baby weight that you cannot lose, you can also add liposuction to remove excess fat cells.
You may also want a breast lift to address the sagging that follows pregnancy. By removing excess, stretched skin from around your breasts, our doctors can ensure that your breasts sit higher on your chest and the nipples poke outward rather than downward for a youthful appearance. If your breast size is no longer to your liking, a breast augmentation can achieve your desired proportions.
Don’t Let Your Post-Pregnancy Body Bring You Down
Mommy makeover is a practical and effective solution for reviving the body you love. If you would like to improve your contours with plastic surgery, please schedule a consultation with Atlanta’s top plastic surgeons: Dr. Wright Jones and Dr. Sabine Lovell. Call 404-882-9948 today.
