There’s no question that you love your children. You’ve never felt closer to them than when you were pregnant or breastfeeding. Unfortunately, now that you are done bearing and breastfeeding your children, you may not be so much in love with the effect they have had on your body. Your abdomen has stretched out, and your breasts may now be saggy and droopy from having expanded and contracted in size multiple times when you started and stopped lactating.

Maybe you have started an exercise and diet program to try to get back in shape, but have been frustrated with your lack of progress in getting back to your pre-pregnancy weight. You may have heard about Mommy Makeover cosmetic surgery packages that promise to help you lose all that extra weight you gained during your pregnancies and wonder if they can help in your case. Dr. Paul Pin has performed numerous Mommy Makeovers over the years. Below, he outlines what goes into a Mommy Makeover and whether or not it can help you lose your “baby weight” after you are done having children.

What Is Included in a Mommy Makeover Cosmetic Surgery Package?

A Mommy Makeover will usually include a tummy tuck (to remove excess abdominal skin and tissue, and tighten up underlying loose abdominal muscles). Dr. Pin may also include a liposuction procedure (to remove stubborn pockets of excess abdominal fat that has not responded to your efforts to lose weight) and a breast lift to correct any breast sagging or drooping following lactation.

Mommy Makeovers and Weight Loss

While a Mommy Makeover is certainly designed to help you get back your pre-pregnancy body, its primary function is not weight loss. In fact, Dr. Pin feels that Mommy Makeovers are meant to be the finishing touch after you have lost your pregnancy weight and reached your goals in that regard. If you have not yet reached a stable weight before undergoing a Mommy Makeover, there is a good chance that you may need to undergo a second tummy tuck procedure later on to remove additional loose skin and tissue, and further tighten loose muscles. Because your breasts may also change in shape or size with further weight loss after a Mommy Makeover, Dr. Pin may also need to do further work on your breasts in a second procedure.

Timing Your Mommy Makeover Procedure

In order to avoid the possibility of having to undergo a second Mommy Makeover procedure, Dr. Pin stresses the importance of giving your body the time it needs to recover following pregnancy and nursing. He suggests waiting a minimum of six months after you stop breastfeeding. During this time, you should be working toward your weight loss goals so that when you reach your stable weight goal, you will be ready for your Mommy Makeover procedure. Given that experts suggest breastfeeding for at least the first 12 months of a child’s life, this would give you 18 months to reach your goal weight before having your Mommy Makeover procedure.

There’s no question that you love being a mom. However, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t also be able to love having back your body from before you had your children. A Mommy Makeover package might be able to help you do just that.