More Moms Choose Mommy Makeover Surgeries

More moms are choosing mommy makeovers, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The society says that 62 percent of mothers they surveyed would undergo a cosmetic surgery procedure if money were not a factor.

One such mom, Dana Van Gray underwent breast augmentation and a tummy tuck at age 38, one year after having her last child.

She said she felt the need to seize the opportunity and said the positive change in her body improved her attitude. “I feel good so I can be a better mom to my kids,” Van Gray said.

A “mommy makeover” is not a single plastic surgery procedure, but actually several surgeries that can help a woman regain her pre-pregnancy body shape.

• Breast augmentation (sometimes with a lift) restores volume to breasts that may have begun to sag after breastfeeding.
• Tummy tuck surgery removes excess skin and tissue that can hang around the midsection.
• Liposuction removes stubborn fat in specific areas of the body.
• Labiaplasty reshapes and restores vaginal tissues.

The ASPS recommends that new mothers wait six months to a year before undergoing any of these procedures and that they lose weight before surgery.

Dr. Phillip Haeck, ASPS President, says that more and more, the women who are electing these procedures are not older women, but younger mothers like Dana. He attributes this to improving attitudes toward cosmetic surgery and an openness about the desire to change what diet and exercise may fail to achieve.