The choices inside one operation

A mommy makeover sounds like a single package. In practice it is a series of decisions, and each one changes the operation, the scars and the recovery. Dr. Chang Soo Kim makes them with you at Bellava in Bedford Hills — for Bedford Village, about ten minutes without traffic by Route 22 and Bedford Center Road. He has performed hundreds of mommy makeovers; he studied at the Yale School of Medicine, trained in plastic surgery at Yale–New Haven Hospital and is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. More about Dr. Kim.

Decision one: how much tummy tuck

Full. For loose skin above and below the navel and separated stomach muscles; the belly button is repositioned.
Mini. For slack skin only below the navel with good tone above; a shorter incision, and the belly button stays where it is. See the mini tummy tuck.
None. If your skin is firm and the trouble is fat, ask whether liposuction on its own would do.

Decision two: what the breasts need

A lift when they have dropped.
Augmentation when they have emptied — with implants, or with your own fat, taken by liposuction from the tummy or thighs, for a subtler increase.
A reduction when they are heavier than you want.
A lift with augmentation when both apply.

Decision three: what else, and what to leave out

Liposuction of the waist, hips or thighs is a common addition. Some women also add a Brazilian butt lift, which reshapes the buttocks with fat removed by liposuction. Deciding what to leave out matters just as much: each procedure added lengthens the operation and the recovery, and Dr. Kim will tell you when a combination is not wise for your health.

What the surgery cannot do

It is not a weight-loss operation; results last best at a steady, healthy weight.
A later pregnancy can undo part of the work, so the advice is to wait until your family is complete.
Scars are permanent, though placed to be hidden, and like any surgery it carries risks, infection and anesthesia complications among them.

After the operation

The surgery is outpatient, in Bellava’s Joint Commission–accredited suite. You go home with gauze dressings and a support bra or compression garment, plus instructions for any drains. Recovery runs two to six weeks depending on what was combined, and the result keeps refining for several months.

Bedford Village mothers ask

Does combining save anything? One recovery instead of several, and Bellava describes it as more cost-efficient to schedule than separate operations. Your quote comes at the free consultation, and financing is available.

Can I see results? Yes — browse Dr. Kim’s before and afters and read the main mommy makeover page.

Mommy Makeover for Bedford Village, NY