The aim of a mummy makeover is to restore your body to its original contours and shape before pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnancy and childbirth can take their toll on your body, and the mummy makeover looks to restore balance and help you achieve your dream body.
What is a Mummy Makeover?
The mummy makeover is a combination of surgeries. It rejuvenates the body and makes you feel more like yourself after you experience changes in the body. If you feel like your body is altered and changed after childbirth, it can feel practically impossible to get it back the way you want it through diet and exercise alone.
After having a baby, many women struggle to return to their pre-baby body. The mummy makeover focuses on areas of the body that tend to change during pregnancy and childbirth.
Mummy Makeover: Quick Overview
- Surgery Time: 4-6 hours
- Anaesthetic: General
- Hospital Stay: Day or overnight
- Dressing and Garments: Dressings changes at 2 weeks, compression garments for 6 weeks
- Time Off Work: 2 weeks
- Exercise: 8 Weeks
- Mobile: 4-5 days
- Washing: 2 days
- Sleeping Position: sleep on back for 4 weeks
- Full Recovery: 8 weeks
What’s Included in a Mummy Makeover?
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to the mummy makeover. Everybody is unique, so the approach to this sort of treatment needs to be individualised. Therefore, the combination of treatments included in the makeover can change depending on the patient. A mummy makeover can consist of:
- Tummy tuck
- Breast lift
- Breast augmentation
- Liposuction
- Vaginal tightening
- Labia reduction
In general, most mummy makeover procedures tend to include a tummy tuck, liposuction and either breast augmentation or a breast lift. It’s completely normal to have non-surgical treatments as well.
Breast Lift
A mastopexy is also known as a breast lift. Over time, it’s 100% normal for breasts to lose firmness and shape. Whether it’s breastfeeding, ageing or just gravity taking its toll on your body, several things can affect your breasts.
As you can probably guess, breast lift surgery can lift your breasts, reshape them and leave you with a perkier pair. There are different techniques with a breast lift, and the best one really depends on your body and the results you’re looking to achieve.
In general, an incision is made around the areola or along the breast creases. Your surgeon will then reshape your breasts, remove any excess skin or fat, and reposition the nipple. They will then tighten the remaining skin and close the incision.
Breast Augmentation
Breast augmentation is an enlargement of the breasts. The procedure involves inserting implants to make the breasts bigger. Implants are filled with silicone or physiological saline. Silicone implants are the most commonly used in the UK as they tend to feel more natural. Silicone breast implants are filled with silicone gel. The implants feel much more like a natural breast. Implants are placed inside the breast to reconstruct, increase size, and enhance shape.
During the procedure, your surgeon will place the implants either behind the breast or behind the muscle the breasts sit on. The surgery itself takes about 90 minutes and is performed under general aesthetic.
The other option is fat transfer breast augmentation surgery uses the patient’s own fat via liposuction to enhance and enlarge the breasts. The procedure uses fat grafting techniques and eliminates the need for implants to create a natural bust. If you’re self-conscious about your breast size or shape, breast augmentation can help increase self-confidence and improve the contours of the breast.
Tummy Tuck
Tummy tuck surgery flattens the tummy by removing excess fat and skin and tightening the abdominal walls. It can also help remove stretch marks in the lower part of the stomach. Abdominoplasty surgery is a popular treatment, especially following pregnancy and massive weight loss.
The surgery is performed under general anaesthetic. Your surgeon will make a small incision on the pubic mound. During the surgery, the abdominal walls are tightened, and any excess or sagging skin is removed. This leaves you with a flatter, more toned stomach.
Liposuction is a surgical procedure to remove fat from the body using suction. It’s is a highly efficient solution to leave you with more defined and balanced proportions. Surgery time really depends on the amount of fat being removed from the body. This is something you will discuss with your doctor beforehand.
Your doctor will make tiny incisions using small tubes, then will gently suction out fat tissue. When certain areas of your body don’t respond to exercise or a healthy diet, liposuction may help shift that extra bit of fat.
During the procedure, your surgeon starts by making small incisions where the fat will be removed. Next, your doctor uses thin, hollow tubes to loosen up fat tissue before using suction to remove fat from the body.
What are the Benefits of a Mummy Makeover?
During pregnancy and childbirth, the body undergoes a ton of changes. You can see these changes most noticeably in the breasts and abdomen. This is why a mummy makeover tends to include a tummy tuck and some sort of breast surgery.
If you’re considering a mummy makeover, benefits include:
- Remove stretch marks
- Improve the contours of the body
- Boost confidence and self-esteem
- Restore pre-baby body
How Long Does it Take to Recover From a Mummy Makeover?
As the surgeries involved in a mummy makeover can change, so can the recovery timeline. In general, you should expect to set aside at least 2 to 3 weeks of downtime. This is when you will need the most help and need to take it easy to start the healing process.
Over the next 3 to 6 months, you will continue to heal and recover, so make sure to get plenty of rest. These operations are major surgeries alone, so you need to know that the recovery time is not brief. It will take several months to see the final results.
How Long Will it Take You to Recover if You Have Breast Surgery and a Tummy Tuck at the Same Time?
In general, you would be in the hospital for 2 nights with 2 full weeks of rest. Depending on the type of techniques used and the work you do, you could be back at work after 4 weeks and resuming normal activities in 2 months.
Who is the Ideal Candidate for a Mummy Makeover?
The ideal candidate for a mummy makeover is at a healthy weight and ideally done with having any more children. If you have a tummy tuck and then get pregnant, your stomach muscles may separate again, removing the benefits of the surgery. If your nipples need to be repositioned during a breast lift, the milk ducts will need to be severed, which means that you won’t be able to breastfeed in the future.
This is not a quick fix procedure, and there will be lengthy stages of recovery throughout the process. The best candidate understands this and has realistic expectations of the procedure and recovery timeline.
Who Should Avoid Having a Mummy Makeover?
A mummy makeover is a combination of several major surgeries. Because of this, you need to be in good physical health. If you take medications that suppress wound healing, then a mummy makeover may not be ideal for you. You will also need to stop smoking for several weeks before and after surgery.
When Do You Have Your Follow-Up Appointment?
After 10-14 days, your surgeon will review your wounds and remove any dressings. If all is going well, a lighter dressing is usually applied. Your surgeon will then book you in for an appointment at 4 weeks and 3 months to continue to review your progress.
When Can You Expect to See The Final Result?
At 6 weeks, you should start to see the final result. Over the next few months, the swelling will continue to subside, and you will see the final result.
Is a Mummy Makeover Permanent?
Your results should be long-lasting. Depending on the procedures you choose to include in your mummy makeover, results can differ. While results from a tummy tuck and liposuction could be permanent, breast implants usually need to be replaced after 10 years. To prolong your results, the best thing you can do is maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
Can You Breastfeed After a Mummy Makeover?
It’s possible to breastfeed after breast surgery. However, there is a risk of severing ducts and nerves that will affect your ability to breastfeed.
How Long Do You Need to Wait After Child Birth to Have a Mummy Makeover?
You should wait at least 6 months after giving before having any surgery. This gives your body time to heal so that your abominable tissue is stronger before abdominoplasty.
Can You Have a Tummy Tuck After Having a C-Section?
Yes, but you should wait at least 6-12 months after having a C-section before having a mummy makeover. You need to be properly healed before any cosmetic surgery.
What Our Patients Say at The Harley Clinic, London
Before and After Mummy Makeover
What are the Potential Risks and Side Effects of a Mummy Makeover?
With a mummy makeover, each individual surgery poses its own risks. When you combine different procedures, you have various areas that will all be affected. So you have multiple risks and side effects with each of these. Although there are risks across all procedures, the risks are low.
Potential risks and side effects of a mummy makeover include but are not limited to:
- Infection
- Bleeding
- Hematoma
- Anaesthesia risks
- Skin and or fat/necrosis
- Fluid accumulation
- Pain
- Swelling
- Poor wound healing
- Poor scarring
- Nerve injury
- Contour irregularity
- Seroma
- Over/under correction
- Asymmetry
- Damage to other structures
- DVT
- PE
- Chest infection
- Bottoming out – this refers to a form of breast implant displacement. The implant sinks down to the lower part of the breast area.
- Double bubble – this is a type of implant deformity where the breast tissue descends instead of the implant.
- Animation – excessive movement or distortion when you do activities that involve your chest muscles.
- Wrinkling – this is when you see wrinkling or rippling over the implant.
- Implant rupture (1% per yer) – if a breast implant ruptures, it will start to leak and deflate. Swelling, soreness, and burning sensation are all signs of a breast implant rupture.
- Malposition – when the implant is sitting in the wrong place.
- Asymmetry – this is when your breast implants are uneven.
- Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma – a type of lymphoma that can develop around the breast implants. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. ALCL 1 in 20,000 textured implants sold (MHRA)
- Change in feeling of breasts – the majority of patients experience some change in the feeling of their breasts.
- Capsular contracture
- Extrusion
To book a consultation today, please call 0203 582 4947 or email [email protected].
Further Reading:
- Liposuction vs Tummy Tuck: Which One is Right For You?
- What is a Labiaplasty?
- Breast Augmentation: Implants vs Fat Transfer
- What to Expect During Your Mummy Makeover Recovery
- Will Your Mummy Makeover Scars Be Visible?
- How Long After Childbirth Can You Have a Mummy Makeover?
- 8 Top Body Contouring Surgeries
- 8 Useful Tips for Your Mummy Makeover Recovery