What Is the Ideal Weight for a Mommy Makeover?

As a woman, your body will go through a variety of unique changes throughout your life. The most noticeable of these transformations often occur after having children or experiencing significant weight loss. A few examples of this include the breasts sagging, belly skin losing its elasticity, and stubborn pockets of excess fat forming. If you’ve encountered these kinds of changes, you could be a candidate for a mommy makeover. A mommy makeover is a set of cosmetic procedures that can be custom-tailored to restore a woman’s figure after pregnancy, weight loss, or the effects of aging.

WHAT PROCEDURES ARE INCLUDED IN A MOMMY MAKEOVER?

The specific procedures you undergo in a mommy makeover will depend on your personal needs. You will have a consultation with your plastic surgeon to discuss your goals for the procedure and determine the most effective treatment plan. Typically, a mommy makeover will consist of some combination of these procedures:

• Breast augmentation
• Breast lift
• Liposuction
• Tummy tuck
• Brazilian butt lift
• Belt lipectomy

WHAT MAKES YOU A CANDIDATE FOR A MOMMY MAKEOVER?

Because a mommy makeover often consists of several major procedures, there are several requirements that candidates typically need to meet. For one, it’s important to be in generally good physical health. Additionally, you need to be confident that you are finished with childbearing; otherwise, it’s likely that you will lose some of the results of your mommy makeover. If you’ve had children in the past, you should also be far enough removed from your most recent pregnancy for your body and hormones to have stabilized. This can take anywhere from six months to a year.

In addition to these requirements, most plastic surgeons prefer patients to be within a certain weight range before undergoing a mommy makeover. However, that doesn’t mean there’s a universal ideal weight for a mommy makeover necessarily. 

THE IDEAL WEIGHT FOR A MOMMY MAKEOVER VARIES

When women hear that there is an ideal weight for a mommy makeover, many of them believe that it’s a specific weight they need to reach. However, that isn’t the case. If you’re interested in a mommy makeover, what’s actually important is that your BMI (body mass index) is below 30 and that you’re close to your personal ideal weight.

Your BMI is a measurement of how healthy your weight is relative to your height. For example, someone who weighs 150 pounds at 5’ 3” tall would have a higher BMI than someone who is 5′ 8” tall and the same weight. Your BMI can classify your weight as underweight, healthy, overweight, obese, or severely obese. If your BMI is over 30, that’s classified as obese, and plastic surgeons may be unwilling to perform a mommy makeover before you’ve shed some of that extra weight.

WHY DOES YOUR WEIGHT MATTER FOR A MOMMY MAKEOVER?

There are two primary reasons why weight is an important consideration for anyone undergoing a mommy makeover.

• Preventing Complications
  • If you are significantly overweight, it can increase the risks associated with undergoing any type of major surgery. For example, studies have shown that obesity may increase the risk of complications such as incision infections, leakage, postoperative pneumonia, and intra-abdominal abscess. And because a mommy makeover will typically involve several significant surgeries, plastic surgeons are often more reluctant to perform the procedure on obese patients. Additionally, a high BMI has been shown to weaken the immune system, which can make it more difficult for the body to recover after a mommy makeover. At Neaman Plastic Surgery, we want your procedure and recovery to go as smoothly as possible. For that reason, it’s important that you’re at a healthy weight before undergoing a mommy makeover.
• Optimizing the Results
  • If you are close to your ideal weight, it will greatly increase the chances of achieving excellent, long-lasting results from your mommy makeover procedure. For one thing, if a patient has excess fat in multiple areas of the body, it will be much more challenging to create a well-proportioned figure with the procedure. It’s important to remember that a mommy makeover is not a weight-loss procedure. Even when liposuction is included, that’s primarily meant to remove specific pockets of stubborn fat. If a patient is obese, it won’t be safe or realistic to remove large amounts of excess fat. Additionally, if you’re significantly above your ideal weight when you undergo a mommy makeover, shedding excess weight in the future may negate the positive effects of the procedure. For example, the breasts and belly may start to sag as you lose weight. For these reasons, it’s generally a better choice to get close to your ideal weight before you undergo a mommy makeover.
• BMI Can Be Misleading
  • In some cases, a person’s BMI can be somewhat misleading. For example, if you have more muscle mass than the average person, your weight will be higher relative to your height, which will result in a higher BMI. In this case, you may be fit enough for a mommy makeover despite having a relatively high BMI. Because of this, plastic surgeons will typically consider more than just the weight and BMI of a patient when determining if a mommy makeover is the right choice. They will also consider how the patient’s weight is distributed and how much muscle mass they have.

WHAT IS THE TAKEAWAY?

So, what is the ideal weight for a mommy makeover? Generally, you should have a BMI under 30 and be within 10 to 20 pounds of your ideal weight. There are exceptions to these rules, but they are the most common guidelines that plastic surgeons will follow. If you’re interested in undergoing a mommy makeover in the greater Salem, OR area, contact Neaman Plastic Surgery today to schedule a consultation with one of our skilled plastic surgeons.