I Just Had My Last Baby: When Can I Get a Tummy Tuck?

Whether you’ve been pregnant once or multiple times, it’s natural to feel excited about getting your pre-pregnancy body back after giving birth. You may feel like a stranger in your postpartum skin because pregnancy and childbirth take an immense toll on your body.

Because pregnancy grows out your abdominal area so much, you can have lots of excess skin and stretched-out muscles in the postpartum period. And while it can be tempting to want to jump right to a tummy tuck after giving birth, it may not be wise to do so.

At Ayewah Aesthetics, board-certified cosmetic surgeon Martha Ayewah, DO, and the rest of our team are passionate about helping moms feel their very best, and we understand that a tummy tuck can help boost your self-confidence after you’ve finished having children. 

This month’s blog discusses an appropriate time frame for getting a tummy tuck post-pregnancy and childbirth and what to expect when you undergo this cosmetic surgery. 

Why you need to wait to get a tummy tuck postpartum

In today’s age of social media, it’s common to feel like you have to snap back quickly from childbirth and pregnancy. Because of this, mommy makeover plans, which typically include tummy tucks, have become incredibly popular. Even a procedure known as a C-tuck  — which combines a tummy tuck with a cesarean section (C-section) delivery — has started to become highly requested. 

However, you must know that getting a tummy tuck right after giving birth is not only unwise but also incredibly unsafe. Recovering from the physical trauma of childbirth, whether you delivered vaginally or via cesarean section, takes a significant amount of time. Adding a recovery from a major surgery on top of that would put far too much stress on your body in addition to taking care of a newborn.

It’s typically good to wait six months after giving birth to get a tummy tuck. Breastfeeding should be complete for six months because hormonal shifts and postpartum recovery cause many physical changes in your body. If you were to get a tummy tuck right after you’ve had a baby, your results would not be ideal. 

What to expect when you are ready for a tummy tuck

To be considered a candidate for a tummy tuck, you need to be at least six months postpartum, at a relatively healthy weight, and finished having children. If you haven’t recovered from childbirth, still need to lose some weight, or plan on becoming pregnant again, you won’t get the results you want from your tummy tuck. 

If you get cleared for surgery, Dr. Ayewah slims your abdomen by making incisions between your pubic area and belly button before removing excess skin and tightening the muscles of your abdominal wall.

It may take two to three months to recover from your tummy tuck, so you need to enlist full-time help taking care of small children as you can’t do any heavy lifting or strenuous exercise during that recovery period. 

To determine if you’re a candidate for a postpartum tummy tuck or to learn about our other mommy makeover services, schedule a consultation today by calling our office in the Midtown West Neighborhood of New York City, New York, or using our online booking feature.