Bringing a child into the world can be a beautiful and rewarding experience. For some women in the UK, however, it can take a toll on their body, leaving behind some undesirable changes. These can include post pregnancy loose skin, excess fat deposits and stretch marks.
With a little help from advanced surgical procedures, such as a mummy makeover or tummy tuck, your can say goodbye to loose skin and address your post pregnancy belly while regaining your pre-baby body confidence.
What Causes Post Pregnancy Loose Skin?
Let’s talk about why your skin gets loose after pregnancy. During those nine months that your baby is growing inside your uterus, your skin slowly stretches to accommodate your growing belly.
Once the baby is born, however, your your postpartum belly skin might not bounce back to its former condition as quickly as you’d like. Pregnancy changes such as loss of skin elasticity in the belly area can sometimes be permanent.
Furthermore, factors like genetics, age, weight gain the rate of weight loss (how quickly you shed those pregnancy pounds) can all play a role in how much loose skin your tummy has remaining postpartum.
Does Post Pregnancy Loose Skin Get Better On Its Own?
You might be wondering if loose belly skin and other post pregnancy changes will resolve on their own. The truth is it depends. The younger and fitter you are, the higher the chances that your stomach after pregnancy will bounce back naturally.
If you’re in your 40’s when giving birth, or you’ve gained considerable weight and accumulated fat after pregnancy, you may see more loose skin that sticks around for good.
That’s where surgical body contouring treatments can address a saggy belly while helping the skin return to its pre-baby condition.
Plastic Surgery Options for Removing Excess Skin
Mummy Makeover
This surgical option is ideal for mums who want to address multiple body changes that occur after pregnancy. In addition to targeting the post-baby belly, your plastic surgeon may advise having additional procedures such as breast lift surgery, liposuction and vaginal rejuvenation.
Tummy Tuck
Also called abdominoplasty, tummy tuck surgery involves removing excess belly skin, tightening the abdominal muscles, repositioning the belly button and liposuction (to remove stubborn pockets of fat).
Tummy tuck is one of the most popular surgical treatments for women to improve the appearance of their stomach skin and achieve a more contoured, shapely and youthful midsection.
Removal of Stretch Marks
While a healthy lifestyle can improve postpartum skin changes to some extent, no amount of diet and exercise will fade stretch marks. Although they will slowly fade over time, they will always be visible to some extent.
The advantage of surgical procedures such as a tummy tuck, removing excess skin will minimise the amount of stretch marks that are noticeable.
What Kind of Results You Can Expect
While every mum’s cosmetic surgery experience is unique, pregnant women concerned in advance about post pregnancy loose skin on their abdomen need not worry.
Should new mothers require this type of surgery to correct loose skin postpartum, they will see a significant improvement in the following areas:
Skin Appearance:
Loose skin is perfectly normal after pregnancy. Surgery can remove excess skin resulting in a skin tightening effect. Your surgeon may recommend additional non-surgical post pregnancy treatments such as LED Therapy.
Body Contour:
Tummy tuck and mummy makeover surgeries are designed to reshape your body to achieve more aesthetically pleasing contours. After wearing maternity clothes for many months, you’ll feel more confident and look better in your favourite outfit.
Muscle Tightness:
Pregnancy can cause your abdominal muscles to become loose or separate, a condition called diastasis recti. Surgery can tighten the abdominal muscles, improving their function and appearance.
Doing strength training exercises can further improve your postpartum belly muscle tone.
Stretch Marks
One common type of skin issues that new mums face is stretch marks. There are numerous tips out there on how to minimise stretch marks, ranging from taking collagen supplements, using skincare products or laser skin resurfacing.
Nonsurgical cosmetic procedures typically offer various degrees of effectiveness. A tummy tuck, on the other hand, can surgically remove parts of the skin affected by stretch marks.
Therefore, by addressing post pregnancy loose skin with surgery, you can tackle stretch marks at the same time.
Book A Plastic Surgery Consultation to Discuss Your Loose Skin Concerns
With the right surgeon and postpartum care plan, you’ll be well on your way to reclaiming your body and self-confidence in no time.
Of course, with any of the above cosmetic procedures it’s important to have realistic expectations. While cosmetic surgery can work wonders, it cannot turn back the clock and restore your pre-pregnancy body completely.
The first step to having a body you’ll love again starts with a consultation with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. During your meeting you can discuss your concerns and aesthetic goals, plastic surgery costs and see before and after picture relevant to your procedure.
In summary, post-pregnancy loose skin might be a common skin complaint among new mums, but it’s certainly not something you have to live with forever. With the help of a surgical techniques like the mummy makeover and tummy tuck, you can say goodbye to loose skin.
