Post Pregnancy Surgery Frequently Asked Questions
What is a post pregnancy surgery?
The post pregnancy surgery is a surgical procedure that involves a combination of surgery, usually on the breasts and the abdomen. The abdominal contouring procedures that may be used include liposuction as well as a series of tummy tucks/abdominoplasties and are often used to correct changes after pregnancy and childbirth. When the abdominal contouring procedure is combined with a form of breast surgery, be it a breast lift mastopexy, breast reduction mammaplasty or breast augmentation mammoplasty, this combination is often termed a post pregnancy surgery.
The term post pregnancy surgery has been applied to the combined surgical procedures of abdominal contouring surgery and breast enhancement surgery used to address some of the changes in a woman’s body after pregnancy and breast feeding.
Where does post pregnancy surgery happen?
As these are large surgical procedures, Dr Hunt always performs post pregnancy surgery in a fully accredited hospital under general anaesthetic.
What is the recovery after a post-pregnancy surgery?
The recovery time from surgery will be determined by the extensiveness of your surgical procedure.
For example, a mini-tummy tuck/abdominoplasty may involve a 1 or 2 night stay in hospital with 1 to 2 weeks of recovery. Whereas a full abdominoplasty would require a longer stay in hospital, potentially 4 or 5 days and then 3 to 4 weeks of recovery.
Similarly, larger breast surgery will require longer recovery periods. It would be reasonable to consider a 1 week recovery for a breast augmentation mammoplasty and potentially 2 weeks recovery for a breast reduction mammaplasty.
Why combine procedures in a post pregnancy surgery?
It is possible to combine multiple surgical procedures and the decision to do so will be based on the patient’s health, age and a discretionary choice of the surgeon involved.
Patients often choose this option as it is more cost-effective, includes only one visit to hospital and one recovery period.
What are the Common Myths about a post pregnancy surgery?
Common Myths about Post Pregnancy Surgery
There are often myths associated with different types of surgical procedures and they can be accepted as the truth. Dr Hunt addresses some of the most common myths associated with post pregnancy surgery.
1. A post pregnancy surgery is a cosmetic procedure
In many cases a post-pregnancy surgery will be a purely elective and cosmetic. However, in some cases there will be a medical need to correct functional changes due to excess skin and limitations potentially due to large and heavy pendulous breasts.
In cases such as these where there are functional medical issues, the procedure is not cosmetic and may be covered by Medicare item numbers.
2. I’m too old for a post pregnancy surgery
A post-pregnancy surgery that corrects changes in the abdomen and breasts following pregnancy and childbirth is often addressed soon after pregnancy. However, this is not always the case and many patients choose to undergo this procedure many years later.
Many mums find they are very busy with their young children and often only find time to address their personal concerns when their children are much older or have left home.
There is no age limit to when a person can consider getting a post-pregnancy surgery. Dr Hunt’s post-pregnancy surgery patients range from new mums to grandmothers with young grandchildren.
What other procedures are there for Body Contouring?
- Tummy Tuck – Abdominoplasty
- Liposuction
- Labiaplasty by Dr. Maryam
- Fleur de lis abdominoplasty
- Upper Body Lift
- Lower Body Lift
- Upper Arm Lift
- Thigh Lift (Thighplasty)
