Pregnancy Fat Deposits

First, nothing is better than diet and exercise. The problems after pregnancy include the bulge of the abdominal muscles, excess fat, and excess skin. Unfortuneately, if the muscles are stretched apart, also known as rectus diastasis, no amount of exercise will completely correct the problem. Surgical correction by abdominoplasty or mini-abdominoplasty is required. The choice of abdominoplasty or mini-abdominoplasty is usually dictated by the amount of excess skin. 

The most important thing one has to realize, whether you are the patient or the doctor, is what is the goal when choosing between these two surgeries as there are different indications for both.  If the patient's concern is simply related to problem areas of excess adipose (fat) that don't respond to diet and excersize then Liposuction may be the appropriate answer. If the patient is looking to restore her pre-pregnancy figure and is dealing with excess skin and lax abdominal muscles, then an abdominoplasty is probably required.  Some patients do fall in between, however, and my receive some benefit from aspects of both and procedures can be tailored to individual needs.  Be sure your surgeon understands your goals so that he or she can respond to your questions so that you both can determine what the most realistic outcome would be with either surgery.

If there is an issue of significant weight gain after pregnancy then the patient needs to understand that cosmetic surgery is no substitute for weight loss and neither procedure would be appropriate.  Nutritional counseling is always helpful when considering any cosmetic surgical procedure involving the torso.

So far, I haven't found smart lipo to be all that more effective in either end result or cost savings as many centers charge more for it.  One can always do liposuction first and still have an abdominoplasty later if not completely satified, however, once you commit to an abdominoplasty you can't go backwards so make sure you and your surgeon truly are on the same page with respect to your goals.