When pregnancy is on the docket for the near future, patients wonder how that affects the decision to receive plastic surgery. With all of the improved surgical practices, tools, and especially non-surgical and minimally-invasive technologies, should one go ahead and seek a consultation, or wait until pregnancies are complete?
Dr. Camille Cash of Houston and Dr. Ashley Gordon of Austin, two board certified plastic surgeons, offer their advice to women seeking cosmetic surgery amidst pregnancy.
Breast Augmentation and Pregnancy
One of the most obvious areas of trepidation when mixing plastic surgery and pregnancy are the breasts. Do implants affect any aspect of my pregnancy and breast feeding? Should one hold off until all is done before receiving an augmentation? What if my pregnancy is two years away?
“In two years? I would probably advise her to hold off,” shares Dr. Gordon. “If it were 5 years, or maybe longer, then I would say get your implants and enjoy your breasts, but you may need a revision after.”
“Two years is close,” asserts Dr. Cash. “I think if it’s a straight-forward breast augmentation, then they can enjoy having a new body and new contour for a few years. It will possibly change with nursing and with a pregnancy. I think any type of breast lift or reduction should definitely be postponed until after having a baby, because it may affect their ability to nurse and that’s something that may be important to them.”
Beyond the Breasts
Seeing as almost all other areas of the body are less critical and pertinent to pregnancy, is it wise to seek augmentation in those places? “I think any facial surgeries would be totally fine. And if they have an issue with saddlebags or an isolated area of fat that they didn’t like, I think you could adequately treat that – even if they were considering becoming pregnant sooner,” says Gordon.
The face is good, and small areas to be liposuctioned and/or treated with non-surgical fat removal techniques like CoolSculpting will be just fine.
What About Vaginal Rejuvenation?
One of the hottest rising procedures in cosmetic surgery is vaginal rejuvenation. Whether surgically with a labiaplasty or perhaps even more attractive, non-surgically with ThermiVa, vaginal rejuvenation is showing a host of positive benefits with relatively simple, straight-forward procedures.
When it comes to pregnancy, should the vagina be treated in any way if babies are around the corner?
“I don’t think so!” says Cash. “I think it could be a nice little tune-up between the kids, why not? Certainly the non-surgical vaginal rejuvenation techniques like ThermiVa are excellent and you can definitely have them in between children.”
“I think it’s great because it will help to tighten everything,” adds Gordon. “And if they’re going to go on to have subsequent pregnancies – you sort of reset them during that time.”
The Waiting Game After Your Final Pregnancy – How Much Time?
For many women who have considered future augmentation or surgery after pregnancies, they may be quite encouraged to get the process underway after their final child. When a woman knows she is finished having children, how long must she wait for her body to heal and prepare for plastic surgery? And can a patient receive plastic surgery at the time of a C section, say a tummy tuck?
“I think the idea that I’m going to have a tummy tuck when I have my c section… (“It comes up all the time!” says Gordon.) In a perfect world that’d be great, but your body hasn’t bounced back after just delivering, ” says Cash. “It takes 12 weeks – 3 months – for your uterus to shrink back to it’s normal size, for you to lose some of the baby weight, and to be able to really have the best possible outcome from a surgical procedure.”