August 2007—The popularity of “Mommy Makeovers,” plastic surgery that usually combines body contouring and breast enhancement or lifting, is on the rise in our area just as it is around the country. According to the plastic surgeons Dr. Andrew Wolfe and Dr. Steven Vath, directors of The Center for Cosmetic Surgery, more and more women are coming in to consult them about post-childbirth body tune-ups.
The fact is, related Dr. Wolfe, when a woman decides to get serious about breast enhancement or lifting to reshape her figure after pregnancy, there are often other areas of the body that trouble her as well. Sometimes women have severe stretch marks on the abdomen. Often there’s loose skin, stubborn pockets of fat and lax abdominal muscles that develop along with other physical changes that are part of most every pregnancy. “As fulfilling as motherhood is,” said Dr. Wolfe, “for many women, the marks it leaves on their bodies are less than welcome.”
Today’s moms tend to be busier, more involved and more apt to pursue a balanced life than their mothers were. What that means is they pursue their own fulfillment as well as taking care of the needs of their families. They want to feel satisfied with their appearance, knowing that their outer selves reflect the vitality they feel on the inside.
For many women, breast surgery is often an obvious choice once their childbearing years are behind them. That’s not to say they seek extreme change. “Our patients are normal, down-to-earth people,” said Dr. Vath. They don’t come to us wanting to look radically different. They simply want their pre-pregnancy bodies back.”
Dr. Vath noted that when women discover that it’s safe and relatively straightforward to add another procedure to their breast enhancement, such as a tummy tuck, they most often elect to have the combination. Some women find they don’t need breast surgery at all, and decide to have a tummy tuck and a mini face lift with the plastic surgeons.
“For moms, combination plastic surgery is all about convenience,” said Dr. Vath. “Combined surgery with one recovery period is attractive to my typically active and busy Colorado patients.” In addition to the convenience factor, combination surgery can cost less than individual procedures.