The half of the plan with the most choices

Most talk about a mommy makeover centres on the stomach. The breast half of the plan often takes more deciding, because pregnancy and nursing change breasts differently from one woman to the next. Some lose volume, some drop, some do both, and some end up heavier than their owner would like. Dr. Chang Soo Kim matches the procedure to the change. He operates at Bellava in Bedford Hills, about 19 minutes from North Salem without traffic, by Route 116 and I-684.

Four possibilities

Volume gone, position fine. An augmentation with a saline or silicone implant restores fullness. It goes in through a small incision and sits above or below the chest muscle.
Dropped, but enough volume. A breast lift raises and reshapes your own tissue. Bellava’s page notes that implants are often unnecessary with a lift and are used only when more size is part of the goal.
Both. When the breasts have emptied and fallen, a lift can be combined with an augmentation.
Too heavy. A breast reduction removes excess tissue and skin through incisions along the breast crease, for comfort as much as for shape.

Fullness without an implant

Volume can also come from your own body. In fat transfer breast augmentation, fat collected by liposuction from the tummy or thighs is placed into the breasts in layers. Nothing artificial goes in, so there is never an implant to exchange. It depends on having enough fat to spare, and Dr. Kim will say how much difference it can make for you.

How the breast half joins the rest

Whatever your breasts need is done in the same operation as the tummy tuck and any liposuction, under one anesthetic and with one recovery, which runs from two to six weeks depending on the combination. Dr. Kim decides what can safely be combined once he has your full health history, and he will say if staging the work would be wiser.

The surgeon

Chang Soo Kim, MD, is a Yale School of Medicine graduate who trained in plastic surgery at Yale–New Haven Hospital and is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He has performed hundreds of mommy makeovers. Operations take place in Bellava’s own Joint Commission–accredited suite, and you go home the same day.

North Salem mothers ask

What does the breast examination involve? Dr. Kim examines the breasts and the crease beneath them, takes measurements, and talks through your goals, medical history and lifestyle before recommending anything.

Can a lift deal with skin left by weight changes? Yes. Bellava’s page says a lift addresses extra skin and sagging after dramatic changes in weight.

How do I start? Send a request with the button on this page, or call or text, and the patient coordinator calls back to arrange a free, private consultation. Dr. Kim’s before and after gallery shows his own patients.

Mommy Makeover for North Salem, NY