Start researching plastic surgeons any time. Even if you are pregnant and not close to ready, learning as much as possible is always a good thing. Mommy Makeover is a surgery, or surgeries that help a woman look and feel more like she did prior to pregnancies and childbirth. Typically, the procedure consists of a tummy tuck and some kind of surgery. Possibly a breast augmentation, a breast lift, or a lift and an augmentation together. Some women elect to have post baby body concerns addressed in a single surgery, Others prefer to stage surgeries for various reasons. In many women, it reasonable to perform both breast lift and a tummy tuck in a single surgery. Pricing for this surgery will vary significantly, based on the extent of a tummy tuck, and also based on the training and expertise of a plastic surgeon. The most expensive plastic surgeon may not always be the best, but the lowest priced surgeon will almost certainly be cutting corners that could impact your safety and / or results. Look for lots of before and after photos of tummy tucks, breasts lifts and mommy makeovers. Scars around the belly button are a dead giveaway of a tummy tuck. There should NOT be visible scars around the belly button. Fullness in the upper abdomen is a result that would not be the ideal for most patients. Plastic surgeons who are unable to create natural looking belly buttons, or who rush through surgery without addressing upper abdominal fullness may charge lower prices than plastic surgeons who have the training, ability and interest in providing the very best possible result. Check the credentials of your plastic surgeon including membership of ASPS and ASAPS. Check for surgical suite accreditation and ask who will be in the OR with you when you have your surgery. If you like the many photos you see, you feel like your surgeon has received excellent training and you like the surgeons philosophy, schedule a consultation. You need to feel like your surgeon listens to you and understands your goals. You need to feel a connection with staff members and you should never feel pressured into scheduling surgery. Prior to scheduling surgery, you should be able to speak to previous patients who have had the same surgery. Regardless of how you decide who you see, ask yourself the following questions after your consultation appointment(s): Is this surgeon qualified to perform the surgery I am considering? Do I like this person? Will I enjoy seeing them over the course of my surgery and recovery? Was my complete medical history taken and examined in detail? Did this physician truly listen to me as I explained my thoughts about the improvement I am seeking? Does this physician share my aesthetic sensibility? Do they understand me and are they able to provide exactly what I am looking for? Was I provided with a thorough understanding of all options available (both surgical and non-surgical)? Was I shown photographic examples of surgical outcomes that give me confidence? Was the office staff professional, friendly and accommodating? Was I pressured in any way to proceed with surgery? Does this surgeon perform aesthetic surgery exclusively or is aesthetic surgery a small percentage of the pratice? Listen to what your heart and your gut tell you when you are evaluating your consultation experience. Only move forward if you can do so with confidence about the experience you expect to have in a given plastic surgery practice, and about your ultimate outcome as a surgical patient. Your experience with the consultation process is a good indication of what you are likely to receive as a surgical patient in any practice. If the process is well-organized and enjoyable, the staff is respectful and efficient, and the physician takes adequate time to understand your individual needs and communicates effectively, then you have a very high likelihood of being treated in a similar fashion if you become a surgical patient of that practice. If the process is disorganized or rushed, if the staff is discourteous or unprofessional, or if the physician does not give you confidence that your needs will be met, then don't expect things to get any better once you are a surgical patient. You must be absolutely certain that your plastic surgeon's aesthetic sensibility matches your aesthetic goals. I have a very particular aesthetic vision, and I do not pretend to be the plastic surgeon for everybody. I strive to produce surgical results that are natural-appearing, results that do not advertise a trip to the operating room. For example, I do not perform breast augmentation for patients that are seeking an overly large and distinctly `done' breast appearance. And I have a particular distaste for cheek implants, as I think they rarely produce natural-appearing cheek contours, and instead prefer to enhance facial volume by means of structural fat grafting. Make sure that your plastic surgeon's philosophy and preferred approaches are consistent with the goals that you have in mind. Adequate communication is obviously invaluable, and you should be able to communicate clearly and easily not only with your doctor, but also with your doctor's staff. Over the course of preparing for and recovering from aesthetic surgery, your doctor's staff will have an important and active role. Make sure that your interaction with the staff gives you confidence that you will receive the care and attention that you expect, and deserve, postoperatively. Verify that major surgical procedures are performed in an accredited surgery center and that anesthesia care is provided by board-certified M.D. anesthesiologists. Be confident enough to ask some `difficult' questions. Feel empowered to ask any physician questions like: What are your complication and reoperation rates for this procedure? Has a cosmetic surgery that you performed ever resulted in a lawsuit? Have you had any serious complications and unplanned hospitalizations after cosmetic surgery? Have you ever been disciplined by a state medical board? I am never offended by these kinds of questions, and no competent and qualified surgeon should be. In my opinion it is actually the savvy prospective cosmetic surgery patient who does this kind of `due diligence'. Take your time evaluating before and after images. When a staff member discovered our images posted on another site without our agreement we were mortified. Yes, this can happen. When viewing photos in the office notice whether or not all the photos are taken with the same background, same lighting and with the same (at least 3) positions. Ask for information including patient's age, and how long after surgery photo was taken. Most importantly, ask, did you perform this surgery? Did you perform this as the primarly plastic surgeon? Has this photo been retouched? There is no denying the fact that 'before and after' images are the most powerful and effective means for a surgeon to communicate their aesthetic sensibility. They give the prospective patient an immediate sense of what that surgeon envisions as a favorable postoperative result, and thus allow an individual to make a relatively quick decision as to whether or not that surgical practice is one that they should investigate further. Prospective patients have a host of issues to consider when evaluating pre-op and postop images of cosmetic surgery patients. An outspoken plastic surgeon who is known for some keen observations is often quoted as saying that "A photograph is merely reflected light". Another telling maxim regarding cosmetic surgery photography is "Almost anything can be made to look good from at least one angle." Both of these observations speak to the fact that while such photographs should ideally communicate the true nature of a surgical outcome, there are inherent limitations to the two-dimensional nature of photography. For this reason, as a consumer you should insist on consistency in preoperative/postoperative photography. The positioning of the subject and the size or 'aspect ratio' in the photographs should remain consistent. If one photograph appears to be taken from five feet away and the other from eight feet away, there is no way to meaningfully interpret the 'transformation'. The lighting and color saturation in all of the images should also ideally be identical, or at least comparable. If the pre-op image is in shadow and the postop image is well-illuminated, there is no way to determine how much of the postoperative 'improvement' was provided by surgical technique and how much is just better lighting. A bright flash can conceal a whole host of flaws. You should also insist on seeing images from multiple angles, as this is the only way to get some idea of the quality of a surgical result in three dimensions when reviewing two-dimensional photographs, and to confirm that it isn't just from one direction that the result looks acceptable. The photography set-up and photographic background should be consistent. Images taken in the pre-op area in front of a bare wall with an exposed electrical outlet and the patient's gown pulled up but hanging down into the image should not inspire much confidence. Body position and facial position should also be consistent. I have seen breast lift (mastopexy) before and after photographs in which the patient's arms were at her sides in the 'before' images, and then the arms were lifted above the head in the 'after' images. Raising the arms overhead produces an instant 'breast lift', so it is impossible to objectively assess the effect of surgery in photographs where body position is inconsistent. You are trusting a plastic surgeon with your health and well being, and also to make a permanent change in your body. take your time doing your research.