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Mommy Makeover: A Plastic Surgery Trend

By Annabelle Robertson

A Different Choice

Dr. Casas offers these recommendations to women considering mommy makeovers so they'll attain the best possible outcome—and maintain those results. She suggests postpartum plastic surgery patients:

1. Achieve their desired target weight first.

2. Make sure they are exercising at least 30 minutes per day: a minimum of 15 minutes of interval training and 15 minutes of resistance training, alternating different body parts, on different days of the week.

3. Practice superb nutrition.

4. Keep alcohol consumption at less than two to three drinks per week.

5. Quit smoking.

6. Establish a no-fail support system for the full recovery period dictated by your surgeon.

This last requirement, she says, is critical.

"The biggest problem with mommies is that they don't have someone to take care of their babies and their kids, and they don't take care of themselves," Dr. Casas explains. "I won't operate on a mother with kids under 5 unless she has someone to take care of her children for at least two weeks. It just doesn't make sense if you're going to be lifting and driving and doing the laundry and cleaning house. You're just going to ruin your results."

So far, neither Lisa nor Jennifer is complaining about their results—or doing anything to jeopardize them.

"Oh, my gosh!" Lisa says. "My self-esteem is amazing! I can look in the mirror again without cringing."

Malone says the experience has given her a renewed sense of self.

"I just love being a girl and a woman again," she gushes. "I'm feeling more and more like an individual. My old personality is creeping back."

Dr. Casas reminds those who have had mommy makeovers that nothing is permanent. In addition to the inevitable aging process, some procedures need ongoing surgeries.

"Breast implants, like all medical devices, require maintenance," she says.

Which is precisely why women like Kathryn insist it's far better to forgo postpartum plastic surgery entirely than begin the never-ending fight against time.

"Everybody ages," she says. "Hopefully, at some point, our society will honor those changes instead of stigmatizing them."

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD