Some of the top cosmetic surgeries for women include the procedures that are part of a typical "Mommy Makeover." These include mastopexy with augmentation (breast lift and implants), abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and liposuction. These surgical procedures can help women restore their pre-baby appearance. Some women who have these procedures feel they look even better than they did before they got pregnant.

Breast Lift

This procedure is designed to bring your nipples upward to their original position and make the entire breast firmer. The plastic surgeon makes an incision around the areola, tightens the underlying tissues using permanent sutures and removes excess skin. Depending on the amount of lift needed, an incision may be made down the underside of the breast and along the crease between the breast and the ribcage as well. This procedure can also be used to resize your areolae if they have expanded or become irregularly shaped.

Breast Implants

Breast implants are used to restore lost volume, even out breast asymmetry, reshape breasts to have a more attractive profile and increase cup size for moms who have always wanted bigger breasts. You can choose saline or silicone implants and decide whether you want them placed over or under your chest muscles. Your plastic surgeon will help you decide on the best option based on your body type and your personal preferences. For example, if you don't have a lot of existing breast tissue, you may want to have the implant placed under the pectoral muscle so the outline of the implant won't show through your skin. The incision may be made around the areola, under the breast crease, in the armpit or (rarely) through the belly button. The type of implant you choose may affect which insertion options are available for your procedure.

Tummy Tuck

Are the muscles in your abdomen still bulging outward months after you gave birth? This condition is called diastasis recti and is caused by separation of the abdominal muscles from the connective tissue along the midline of the body. It is fairly common (being pregnant more than once increases your risk). A tummy tuck can repair torn abdominal muscles that can't be tightened with exercise alone. For a full abdominoplasty, the surgeon will make an incision along the crease just above your pubic bone from hip to hip. This allows the surgeon to lift away the skin away from the abdomen and stitch the separated muscles underneath back into place. Unwanted fat and drooping skin is usually removed at the same time. If you have an ugly C-section scar, you may also have this corrected during your surgery (it will be replaced by the tummy tuck scar).

Liposuction

Liposuction is consistently rated as one of the top cosmetic surgeries in the United States year after year. It can be used to sculpt almost any area on your body where fat is located in a discrete pocket under the skin (rather than distributed evenly throughout other tissue). For moms, extra bulges of fat often park on the hips, buttocks, thighs and belly. These areas may be treated with tumescent liposuction and other assistive devices such as laser and ultrasound. In a tumescent liposculpting procedure, a solution of saline mixed with local anesthetic and epinephrine (adrenaline) is introduced into the fatty tissue through small incisions in the skin. The mixture minimizes pain, reduces bleeding and causes the tissue to swell up (tumesce) making it easy to work on. A thin, hollow metal tube called a cannula is used to break up and suction out the unwanted fat cells.

Timing for Procedures

For liposuction, you will want to stabilize your body weight at a sustainable level to minimize the amount of fat that must be extracted and to ensure long term results. For breast surgeries, you will need to wait several months after you stop nursing before having your cosmetic surgery. This gives you time to see what your post-pregnancy breasts will end up looking like after the hormonal and physical changes involved in breastfeeding are finished. With a tummy tuck, you will need to give your body time to "bounce back" as much as can before having surgery to tighten the muscles and ligaments and remove excess skin.

It's possible to have liposuction done between pregnancies, but it's best to wait for breast surgery and abdominal surgery until you are done having kids. That's because subsequent pregnancies can significantly change the appearance of breasts and make the corrective stitches holding the abdominal muscles in place for a tummy tuck break free. This means you would need revision surgery after each pregnancy.

With each of these top cosmetic surgeries, you will need to make sure you have someone to assist you in caring for your kid(s) during your post-op recovery period. Movements like bending and lifting may be restricted for a while after a Mommy Makeover.