What Happens If You Become Pregnant After Having a Tummy Tuck?

Posted May 25, 2023 in Body Contouring, Mommy Makeover, No Drain Tummy Tuck, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

In consultations with women who are interested in improving their abdominal appearance, I ask every patient, “Are you done having children?” Because I really don’t want to do the tummy tuck until you’ve completed your childbearing years.

If you do get pregnant after a tummy tuck—and this has happened with my patients, as well—there is really no problem with the pregnancy. The child will grow normally. There’s no restriction of growth, no adverse consequences to the tummy tuck in terms of the pregnancy.

But what it may do is intensify stretch marks because the skin after a tummy tuck is tighter than it was before the tummy tuck. And the expanding fetus will naturally stretch the skin, so it’s more likely that even more intense stretch marks could occur. For that reason, I advise, “Have your kids, then do your tummy tuck.” But if it does happen, there’s no harm to the kid, you can have a normal pregnancy, there’s no issues like that at all. But we might have to go back and do additional surgery to improve your tummy tuck.

In addition, because the rectus muscles separate during pregnancies, a vertical midline repair is performed during a tummy tuck in order to tighten up the abdominal wall and make the tummy flat. With a pregnancy, it’s likely to expand again so having to redo the tummy tuck and the diastasis repair may be necessary as well after another pregnancy.

Contact us today to schedule your consultation with Dr. Patronella.