Can I Have a Tummy Tuck if I Plan on Having a Second Baby in 5 Years?

Tummy tuck is a big operation.  It should be done only after you have finished having babies.  Although there are reports in the plastic surgery literature of women who have been pregnant after tummy tuck, it is not a recommended sequence of events.  Bear with your shape until childbirth is done, then go for the fix.

if you plan to have another baby soon then I would recommend waiting until you have finished having children. However if you are not sure if you are going to have another child in the future and you cannot get your pre-pregnacy tummy back with diet and exercise then it may be reasonable to have it now as long as you are aware of the risks of the surgery and the possibility that you might need to have another procedure in the future.

Best of luck. 

As long as you are comfortable with repeatng the procedure, it may be reasonable to undergo the procedure at this time. I can recall approximately 3 patients who underwent unintentional and uncomplicated pregnancies after a tummy tuck.

You have hit on the main reason why we do tummy tucks: After pregnancy, no amount of exercise or diet will restore loose skin especially if there are stretch marks, or re-align the muscles if they have been separated. If you do have a tummy tuck and then become pregnant, it should not have any adverse effect on the pregnancy but you will lose the benefit of having the tummy tuck, and a second one later can be a lot more difficult. It isn't as simple as just having to have another tummy tuck, so my advice is to wait.

Most plastic surgeons would recommend that you wait until you are done having children before having a tummy tuck.  Probably the most effective part of the procedure involves tightening of the abdominal midline muscles and this repair would be disrupted with an additional pregnancy. 

If you are simply interested in addressing loose skin, a skin-only tuck could be performed but this would not give you as dramatic a result and as flat an abdomen as a traditional tummy tuck.

I would wait!

I hope this helps!

I recommend that you wait another five years until after you have had all the children that you plan to have before getting a tummy tuck.  Although if you have a tummy tuck first, it will not be harmful for you or the baby to get pregnant again.  However, your skin and muscles may stretch out again after your next pregnancy and you may need another tummy tuck afterwards.  Why not wait another five years?

If you are planning to get pregnant, it may be in your best interest to postpone a tummy tuck procedure till you are done having kids. However, this decision is all up to you. As long as you understand that plastic surgery does not guarantee permanent results and pregnancy may affect the results of your tummy tuck surgery, you may proceed with tummy tuck surgery. In your case, since its a significant amount of time before you are planning to have a baby, you may be able to enjoy the results of your surgery prior to having another child. Discuss all options with a board certified plastic surgeon and make a decision based on the information you get. It is up to you. Good luck and take care.

What if you get pregnant after an abdominoplasty? While it doesn't make much sense to tighten things only to have pregnancy loosen them again, you can, post-tuck, become pregnant and bring a healthy baby to term. But if you are fairly certain that you want to have more kids, you should discuss this issue with your surgeon.

My recommendation is not undergo a tummy tuck operation until you no longer are planning pregnancies. 

Regarding: "Can I Have a Tummy Tuck if I Plan on Having a Second Baby in 5 Years?
25 year old female considering a tummy tuck. I had my first baby six months ago and my stomach has been left stretched out. I've always had a flat stomach but since pregnancy I haven't been able to get it back. I'm not planning to have another baby until the next 5 years, Will it be okay if I decided to have tummy tuck and be pregnant five years later. I do understand I might have to repeat the procedure after baby #2."

It is clear that you understand that having a baby stretched your tummy muscles and skin creating the permanent fullness and pooch you now have. In a Full Tummy Tuck, the stretched and separated tummy muscles are returned to the midline, excess lower tummy skin is removed and tummy flatness is restored. If you were to rapidly gain a lot of weight or were to get pregnant again, the significant outward stretching of the tummy will disrupt the repair and you will once again have abdominal wall looseness and a permanent pooch. Repairing It will require ANOTHER Tummy Tuck which will be somewhat harder because of the scarring left by the first operation.

There is NO doubt that you COULD get pregnant after a Tummy Tuck. The operation is a body contouring operation NOT a sterilizing procedure.

SHOULD you get pregnant in 5 or more years? That is totally up to you. Ideally, most Plastic surgeons do not like performing revision operations; they are harder due to the scarring and take longer to do. You should take all of this into consideration. Having one or more children after a Tummy Tuck is possible but not advisable. It will undo the Tummy Tuck flattening and make a subsequent revision Tummy Tuck more challenging but not impossible.

Dr. Peter Aldea