Pregnancy stretches the abdominal skin and can separate the abdominal muscles down the midline. It can also change the position and shape of the belly button (umbilicus). These are normal changes after having children, and many women settle back close to how they were before. In others, some of the
The mons pubis is the soft pad of tissue that sits over the pubic bone, below the lower abdomen and above the genital area. Its job is to cushion the pubic bone. It is a normal part of the anatomy, and it varies a great deal between women. Pregnancy and
After pregnancy, the skin across the lower abdomen can stay stretched once the uterus has returned to its usual size. The 2 rectus abdominis muscles that run down the midline can also separate, a change called muscle separation (diastasis recti). Both are common after pregnancy and childbirth, and both are
Many women notice that the skin across the lower abdomen stays loose well after their most recent pregnancy, sometimes 2 years on or more. This is a normal variation. Pregnancy stretches the abdominal skin and the wall beneath it across 9 months, and how far things settle afterwards differs a
In Australia, about 1.5% of women who give birth have a multiple pregnancy, and almost all of these are twins (1). Carrying more than one baby stretches the abdominal wall further than a single pregnancy, so separation of the abdominal muscles (diastasis recti) tends to be both more common and
In Australia, a post pregnancy abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) usually costs somewhere between about $6,000 and $30,000 or more. That is a wide range, and it is wide for good reasons. The final figure depends on the operation you actually need, whether a Medicare item number applies to your muscle repair,
A limited abdominoplasty (mini tummy tuck) is an operation that treats the lower abdomen, the area below the navel. It is smaller in scope than a full abdominoplasty, which treats the whole abdominal wall and repositions the navel. In my practice, I see women considering a limited abdominoplasty after they
One of the most common questions I am asked at consultation is where the scar will sit, and whether it will be visible. It is a fair question. An abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) leaves a permanent scar, and where that scar sits matters to the people I operate on. In my
A question I am asked often in my practice is whether an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) can be done at the same time as a caesarean, commonly called a C-section. Some patients have heard of an abdominoplasty performed during a caesarean delivery, sometimes called a “C-tuck” or “C-abdominoplasty,” and they want
Loose skin after weight loss does not present in one single way. For some patients, it is mainly a hanging fold low on the abdomen. For others, the looseness runs horizontally across the front, vertically along the midline, or in a circumferential pattern around the trunk. Loose skin in the