Tummy Tuck After Weight Loss but Before Child Bearing?

There are several reasons that patients seek tummy tuck, and weight loss after gastric bypass, and skin laxity after pregnancy are two leading causes. The root cause of the skin skin laxity however may not be the same in each instance. Most women after pregnancy will not need tummy tuck, especially if they maintain a fit pregnancy. Some patients because of their unique skin type will lose elasticity, develop excessive stretch marks and lose abdominal tone making tummy tuck a very desirable... more

Tough question. Due to your FORMER obesity you have separation of the rectus (six pack) muscles and excessive damaged hanging skin. The options are :Panniculectomy, formal abdominoplasty or a lower body lift. If you are NOT going to start your family any time soon and are aware that a pregnancy may largely destroy the results of a tummy tuck or lower body lift -- then go ahead and have it done to enjoy the fruits of your labor. But you must plan on at least another if not more trips back... more

This is a common situation in plastic surgery. Should I do this procedure now or wait until I... This is a matter of personal desires and philosophy. You can do the surgery now and benefit from the years of looking better and feeling better about yourself and run the risk that you may have to repeat some or all of the tummy tuck or you can wait until after you have had all your pregnacies and do the tummy tuck and have long term improvemnt(as long as there are no pregnancies or weight gain. The more

Yes, there is a probability that future pregnancies will diminish the long-term effects of a tummy tuck. This is basically a life-choice issue. How important is it to have a certain contour now after gastric bypass and how long does it have to benefit you for it to make sense? If you are going to get pregnant within a year, it may not make sense. If pregnancy is mere wishful-thinking now, it might make a lot of sense.

I strongly urge you to consider a panniculectomy (removal of skin/fat apron) now, and a tummy tuck after childbearing. The reason is that you will stretch the muscles with pregnancy, and the scarring will limit the effectiveness of the secondary procedure. A panniculectomy will greatly improve things but not limit later cosmetic results. It is also an easier operation to recover from.

The decision is ultimately yours. You will most likely need a surgical revision if you were to have the tummy tuck prior to pregnancy. However, if you're miserable and don't plan to get pregnant for several years, then you might just want to have the tummy tuck sooner rather than later and worry about a possible revision down the line. Either scenario can be done and is acceptable. It's really up to you. Good luck! Dr. Singer

In general it makes more sense to do a tummy tuck after you have had your children. With a history of gastric bypass and significant weight loss, one might anticipate that your skin's natural elasticity has been diminished. If you have a tummy tuck and then go on to have several pregnancys you will likely end up with some recurrent laxity of the skin as well as the abdominal wall.