Mommy Makeover

Mommy Makeover

A Customized Cosmetic Surgery Approach That’s Tailored to Your Unique Goals in Chicago and Winnetka

Some women are able to get their “pre-baby body” back a few months after giving birth. For others, restoring a leaner and more proportional physique can be challenging. Although pregnancy impacts all aspects of a woman’s body, two of the areas that experience the greatest change are the breasts and the abdomen. We can address these—and other—areas at the same time with a cosmetic surgery approach called a Mommy Makeover. Chicago’s Dr. John Q. Cook at Whole Beauty® Institute can help you sculpt and contour your body or address changes that developed throughout pregnancy and after childbirth with a customized combination of procedures tailored to your unique goals and anatomy.

What Is a Mommy Makeover?

“What is the goal of a Mommy Makeover?” “What does a Mommy Makeover include?” These questions are often on the minds of patients who are considering this procedure. A Mommy Makeover is a form of plastic surgery that combines several types of body contouring cosmetic surgeries to address the areas of the body that are most heavily impacted by pregnancy and childbirth. This collection of techniques is typically done in a single-stage Mommy Makeover procedure to restore the shape and appearance of a woman’s body. The specific Mommy Makeover surgery plan varies from one patient to the next, since different bodies change in different ways, and different women have different goals and priorities.

Who Is an Ideal Mommy Makeover Candidate?

People will often ask, “Who is a good candidate for a Mommy Makeover?” Ideal candidates for Mommy Makeover surgery include individuals who are in good overall medical health, are at or close to their ideal body weight, do not plan to become pregnant again, maintain a positive outlook and realistic expectations, and are not heavy smokers or heavy drinkers. Remember that even if you are not a new or recent mother, you may still be eligible for a Mommy Makeover or one of the common techniques associated with the procedure.

Also, this surgery is not just for mothers! Although patients who choose this procedure are usually women who have given birth, you can benefit if the effects of aging, weight fluctuations, or daily life have caused unwanted contour and other changes you would like to correct.

Ultimately, the best way to know for sure whether you would be a suitable candidate for Mommy Makeover surgery is to have an in-person consultation with Dr. Cook. He will discuss your medical history and personal goals with you. The time since delivery, your breastfeeding status, your overall health, and any plans for future pregnancies will be taken into consideration if you are thinking of a Mommy Makeover.

Mommy Makeover before and after performed by John Q. Cook, M.D.

What Are the Advantages of a Mommy Makeover?

The question you might be asking yourself is, “Why should I get a Mommy Makeover?” In contemporary life, time is a precious commodity. This is particularly true for a woman who now adds “mom” to her other job descriptions. Rather than two recoveries from surgery, a Mommy Makeover’s combined surgery of the breast and abdomen allow for a single recovery period.

Many of Dr. John Q. Cook‘s Mommy Makeover patients tell him that they were in superb physical condition prior to pregnancy—and it was fairly easy to lose weight and restore a fit contour to the body after that first pregnancy. However, with additional pregnancies, the process became more difficult.

Women who have had multiple pregnancies tend to find that—despite hours with the trainer, yoga classes, and all types of exercise—their tummy is loose, their waist is wider, and their breasts are empty and settled. As a woman dealing with these changes looks at herself in the mirror, she can become frustrated. In some cases, she may conclude that exercise and nutrition are no longer worth it, since they don’t really affect the areas that frustrate her. For someone like this, Mommy Makeover surgery can bring the body back to where it was before pregnancy, which is a powerful motivator for good habits.

Mommy Makeover before and after performed by John Q. Cook, M.D.

There are many aesthetic benefits of Mommy Makeover surgery. Artists have long recognized that the breasts and abdomen form a key aesthetic region. Many of the greatest works of classical art celebrate the interplay between these two areas. It makes perfect sense from an artistic perspective to enhance the beauty of both areas at the same time with a Mommy Makeover.

Of course, a Mommy Makeover also has numerous physical or functional benefits. For many women, the changes that occur in their bodies as a result of pregnancy have a significant impact on body mechanics and comfort, prompting them to consider a Mommy Makeover. Often, as a result of pregnancy, the deep support of the abdomen is diminished. This is because the main sit-up muscles lose their anchor at the midline of the body and drift out to the sides. It may become difficult for a woman to maintain control her abdominal tone, and the tummy may actually bulge forward. Exercise may do little to improve the situation, since the muscles are no longer in proper position, and all the exercise in the world will not help to resolve this problem.

For some women, pregnancy causes the breasts to settle to a lower position on the body. This changes the center of gravity of the body and affects motion and posture. If both the abdomen and the breasts are changed in these ways, there can be a double effect on body mechanics. Posture may change, with an exaggerated curvature of the spine, and back pain may become a problem. It is a wonderful experience when one of the Dr. Cook’s Mommy Makeover patients tells us that not only is she pleased with the beautiful lines of her body, but she feels much better, too.

There are also psychological and emotional benefits. A Mommy Makeover can provide transformative results that make you feel more like yourself again. This can help you to regain confidence while improving self-esteem and body image. One of the best things about Mommy Makeover surgery is that it can reverse the negative feedback cycle that can demotivate people from healthy habits of nutrition and exercise.

Mommy Makeover Facts: How Does Your Body Change After Pregnancy?

There are three areas of the body most impacted by pregnancy, all which may be addressed with Mommy Makeover surgery: the breasts, the abdomen, and the fatty zones of the mid-body and legs. These areas change in different ways in different people and tend to follow patterns determined by genetics.

Changes to the Breasts After Pregnancy

There are several ways the breasts change after pregnancy, prompting women to seek a Mommy Makeover. The three key considerations for Mommy Makeover surgery are volume, position, and balance.

Changes to the Abdomen After Pregnancy

The most obvious change in the abdomen after pregnancy is loose skin. Skin that was previously tight may now have folds and wrinkles, sometimes to the degree that the skin overhangs the umbilicus. If there is a C-section scar in the lower abdomen, this may produce an indentation with loose skin above. The precise location of the skin looseness will affect the design of any corrective surgery via a Mommy Makeover that we recommend.

Changes to the Mid-Body and Lower Body After Pregnancy

Women have deep fat compartments in several zones: the outer thigh, the inner thigh, the inner knee, the hip, the flank, and the abdomen. Some women have a genetic tendency to accumulate more fat than expected in one or several of these zones. If this is the case, plastic surgeons performing a Mommy Makeover can use various techniques of liposuction to reduce the fat in these areas.

What Procedures May Be Included in a Mommy Makeover?

The Mommy Makeover is a spectrum of possibilities, rather than a specific operation. The goal is to restore and refine the contours of the breast, abdomen, and the lower body that have been changed by pregnancy.

A Mommy Makeover can involve Dr. Cook performing any of a number of procedures. Breast surgery options include breast reduction, breast lift, breast augmentation, and breast augmentation with lift. Body surgery options include several variations of tummy tuck (high lateral tension, superficial, lower combined with fat reduction, and abdominal combined with non-invasive skin tightening) and liposuction (classical, Vaser^®, SmartLipo^®, SlimLipo^®, BodyTite^®, and arm contouring).

When deciding which procedures or techniques to include in your Mommy Makeover, we will take your desired amount of restoration, placement of the incisions, and other factors into consideration. We will design a plan for your Mommy Makeover surgery that is well suited to your goals, lifestyle, and aesthetic preferences. This starts with a detailed and individualized evaluation. The process is at the heart of everything we do, and this is particularly true when it comes to the Mommy Makeover. Because of our extensive experience with Mommy Makeover surgeries, we can guide you to choices that make sense given your artistic preferences, as well as the practicalities of lifestyle and time available for recovery.

Mommy Makeover before and after performed by Dr. John Q. Cook.

How Should You Prepare for a Mommy Makeover?

When you are preparing for a Mommy Makeover, Dr. Cook may recommend that you get lab testing or a medical evaluation, adjust how you are taking certain medications, quit smoking, and avoid blood thinners or other medications or supplements that affect bleeding.

Why Choose Whole Beauty^® Institute for a Mommy Makeover?

Mommy Makeovers cover a wide range of surgical combinations, some of which require a relatively easy recovery, and some of which require a longer recovery. With the larger procedures—for example, breast reduction combined with abdominoplasty—Dr. Cook carries out the surgery in an accredited outpatient surgical center rather than in the office.

This is a busy center, where a number of leading surgeons operate. As a result, on a typical day, four or five board-certified anesthesiologists, 10 RNs, and a host of support personnel are working at the center. In the very unlikely event of a medical issue developing during Mommy Makeover surgery, Dr. Cook believes that this concentration of talent is very much to the patient’s benefit and cannot be equaled in an office-based facility. This will make the Mommy Makeover surgery more expensive, but as they say: “Safety isn’t cheap.” The surgical facility is also just a few minutes away from two of Chicago’s leading medical centers: Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Rush University Medical Center.

Dr. Cook also offers patients who will benefit from BodyTite^® and other forms of liposuction the possibility of surgery under local anesthesia in our Chicago and Winnetka offices. Many patients comment favorably on the local anesthesia experience.

What Kind of Recovery and Results Can You Expect After a Mommy Makeover?

With more involved Mommy Makeover operations, Dr. Cook’s patients spend one or several nights at a luxury hotel connected to the surgicenter. A highly experienced nurse will provide you with one-on-one attention. We believe this overnight stay offers a significant benefit in terms of safety. We will work with you closely in planning the Mommy Makeover recovery process, so that it will be as smooth as possible.

Because of our extensive experience with various Mommy Makeover operations, we have a good idea of what the recovery is like from each combination, and we will educate you as to the proper steps you should take in advance to make the recovery optimal.

Another question we are frequently asked is, “How long will the results from a Mommy Makeover last?” Simply put, the effects of the procedure will generally last for years. If you want the results from Mommy Makeover surgery to last as long as possible, it’s important to get the timing right and hold off on having this procedure until after you have finished having children. Just as you would have engaged in healthy habits to prepare your Mommy Makeover, it’s also important to prioritize long-term healthy habits if you want to preserve optimal results. It’s recommended that you avoid smoking, maintain a stable weight, and protect scars from sun damage.

Beyond Mommy Makeover Surgery: Other Types of Cosmetic Procedures

Whole Beauty^® Institute provides a variety of surgical procedures to address the face, breasts, and body. The procedures that are often combined for a Mommy Makeover can also be performed separately, as standalone treatments. Aside from Mommy Makeover surgery, there are also non-surgical or non-invasive options to enhance the skin’s appearance such as BOTOX^® Cosmetic, injectable facial fillers, erbium laser skin resurfacing, and skin rejuvenation treatments such as advanced chemical peels, dermaplaning, and microneedling.