The usual parts
- A tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) removes loose skin and some fat from the lower tummy, often stitches separated muscles back together, and gives a new belly button position. It leaves a scar from hip to hip.
- A breast lift (mastopexy) removes loose skin, reshapes the breast and moves the nipple higher. It doesn't add size on its own.
- Breast implants, with the lift, if you'd like more fullness at the top of the breast.
- Liposuction for fat that diet and exercise haven't shifted, such as the flanks. It removes fat, not loose skin.
What it can't do
It isn't weight loss, and it won't remove every stretch mark: only the marks on skin that's cut away go. It can't rebuild the breast's natural support, so a lift drops again over the years. And a later pregnancy can undo much of it. A mummy makeover is not a weight-loss operation. A tummy tuck is usually only offered at a healthy weight, and surgeons want your weight steady for some months first.
Pick the parts that fit you
Many women don't need all of it. Loose skin only below the belly button may need a mini tummy tuck rather than a full one. Breasts that have emptied but not dropped may only need implants. Firm skin with stubborn fat may only need liposuction. The tool on this page lets you pick the parts and see the cost and the recovery together.
Together or apart
Doing the operations together means one anaesthetic, one hospital stay and one recovery. It also means a longer operation, and the risk of serious complications is higher when a tummy tuck is combined with other operations. Read one operation or two.
Is it the right time?
It isn't the time yet if:
- you might have more children
- you're still breastfeeding, or stopped in the last six months (for breast surgery)
- your youngest is still a small baby and the tummy muscles haven't had time and physio to recover
- your weight is still going down or up
- you smoke and won't stop well before surgery
- you can't yet line up help at home for the first weeks
Choosing a surgeon
Every doctor practising in Ireland must be registered with the Medical Council, and only a doctor with specialist registration can practise independently as a specialist. For a mummy makeover, check that the surgeon is on the Specialist Division in Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, using the Medical Council's online register.
Questions people ask
What does a mummy makeover include?
Usually a tummy tuck and a breast lift, sometimes breast implants or liposuction. It's tailored to what pregnancy changed.
Is a mummy makeover one operation?
It can be one long operation or two shorter ones some months apart.
Will a mummy makeover remove stretch marks?
Only the stretch marks on the skin that's removed, mostly below the belly button.
Can I have a mummy makeover after a caesarean?
Many women who've had a caesarean have a tummy tuck later. The surgeon plans around the old scar; ask whether it would come away with the skin.