Body & Breast Surgery in Atlanta
Mommy Makeover in Atlanta
Restoring the breasts and abdomen after children or weight loss, in one surgery, by female plastic surgeons who understand what you have been through.
CONSULTATION
Required
SURGERY LENGTH
3 to 5 hours
ANESTHESIA
General
SETTING
Northside, with a 23-hour hospital stay
BACK TO DESK WORK
About 1 to 2 weeks
COMPONENTS
Tummy tuck, breast surgery, liposuction
The Approach
Restoring the Beauty of Motherhood
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and time often change the breasts and abdomen together, so a mommy makeover restores them together. After years of caring for everyone else, this is a moment to care for yourself. In a single personalized surgery, your surgeon refreshes the areas that have changed most, so you enjoy one recovery instead of several. Women who have experienced significant weight loss with similar changes are wonderful candidates too.
At Artisan, mommy makeovers are led by board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Bernadette Wang Ashraf, who brings Johns Hopkins training and more than 20 years of breast and body surgery to every plan. Your consultation covers every detail, from your procedures and recovery to scars, risks, and cost, so you can move forward with complete confidence.
Candidacy
Is Now the Right Time for Your Mommy Makeover?
Timing plays an important role, since a future pregnancy or significant weight change can affect your results.
Planning ahead for support at home is one of the most valuable things you can do. Lifting is limited for several weeks after surgery, including lifting your children, so arranging help before your surgery date makes recovery much smoother.
You are likely ready if:
- You have sagging or deflated breasts, loose abdominal skin, separated abdominal muscles, or stubborn fat after pregnancy or weight loss
- You are in good health with no condition that impairs healing, and you are a non-smoker or willing to quit before surgery
- You are finished having children. A later pregnancy will undo abdominal and breast results, and if you are undecided, non-surgical treatments can bridge the gap
- You are at or near a stable weight you are happy with, and have held it for several months
- You have finished breastfeeding, and your breasts have returned to their non-pregnant state for several months
- You have reliable childcare help, because you cannot lift your children for weeks after surgery
Before You Book
A Note on GLP-1 Weight Loss Medications
Please Share Early
This means Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, or a compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide. Many mommy makeover patients arrive after weight loss, and a great many of them are on one of these, so we ask everyone. If you are, tell us well before your surgery date rather than on the morning.
Why it Matters
These medications slow digestion, which can increase the risk of aspiration under general anesthesia. For your safety, you will pause your medication before surgery and follow a liquid diet for a full day beforehand. If these steps are not followed, your surgery will need to be rescheduled to protect you. Because Artisan offers its own medical weight loss program, our team understands these medications well and will coordinate your timing with care.
The Components
Your Personalized Mommy Makeover
Every mommy makeover is designed around you. Your surgeon selects from the following procedures to restore the areas that have changed most, creating one harmonious plan and one recovery.
Tummy Tuck
Restores: a flat, firm abdomen and a strong core
A tummy tuck removes loose skin and repairs the abdominal muscles that often separate during pregnancy, a condition called diastasis recti. It is why many women notice a lower belly that remains long after childbirth, no matter how much core work they do. By bringing these muscles back together, a tummy tuck restores both your silhouette and your core strength.
Breast Augmentation
Restores: fullness and shape
For breasts that have lost volume after pregnancy and breastfeeding, breast augmentation uses implants to restore a fuller, beautifully proportioned shape.
Breast Lift
Restores: a lifted, youthful position
A breast lift raises and reshapes breasts that have lowered over time. When both lift and fullness are desired, it can be paired with implants in a single procedure.
Breast Reduction
Restores: comfort and balanced proportions
For breasts that feel larger than you would like, a breast reduction gently reduces and lifts for a lighter, more balanced silhouette.
Liposuction
Restores: smooth, refined contours
Liposuction sculpts stubborn areas such as the hips, flanks, and back, refining the transitions between each part of your plan for a seamless, natural result.
Your surgeon will recommend only the procedures that will truly enhance your results, creating a plan as unique as your story.
Choosing
One Surgery or Staged: Finding Your Ideal Plan
Combined
One operation
- One anesthesia, one recovery, one stretch of needing help at home.
- One set of facility and anesthesia fees rather than several.
- Often a more harmonious result, since addressing the breasts and abdomen together lets your surgeon balance the transitions between them.
- A longer operation, which carries modestly more risk than a shorter one.
Staged
Separate operations
- A separate recovery for each procedure, spread over months or longer.
- Those fees paid each time, which makes the total higher.
- Each area addressed well, with less opportunity to balance them against each other.
- Shorter operations, and easier to fit around work, childcare, and budget.
For most patients, combining procedures is the most efficient and harmonious choice. When your health, goals, budget, or schedule make staging the better fit, your surgeon will design a plan around you, always without pressure.
The Trade
Scars, Thoughtfully Placed
A mommy makeover leaves carefully placed scars from each procedure: a low abdominal scar from hip to hip, designed to sit beneath a bikini line, and breast scars whose pattern depends on your procedure, such as around the areola and, for a lift or reduction, vertically and along the breast crease. Your surgeon places every incision as discreetly as possible, and scars soften and fade beautifully over the first year. During your consultation, you will see exactly where your scars will be, so you can plan with confidence.
Recovery
Your Mommy Makeover Recovery
Here is the whole arc, so you can arrange the help you will need before you book.
Surgery day
Three to five hours of surgery, then a 23-hour hospital stay at Northside. An Exparel nerve block provides about four days of significant pain relief. Someone drives you home and helps overnight. Surgical bra on.
First week
Walk hourly while awake to prevent clots. Nothing over 5 pounds, including children. Arms not above shoulder height. Sleep on your back, elevated. Surgical bra around the clock.
1 to 2 weeks
Most patients return to non-strenuous work. You still need help at home and with childcare.
3 weeks
The 5-pound lifting limit typically eases. Breast massage begins, to keep implants soft and help prevent hardening.
6 weeks
No sports or gym until now. Supportive bra around the clock through this point, then any bra including underwire.
Months
Swelling resolves and the final contour and scars mature over the following months, up to a year.
Recovery is often less about discomfort and more about pausing the everyday tasks you usually do without thinking. Arranging support in advance, whether a partner, family member, or caregiver for at least the first two weeks, helps you rest, heal, and enjoy a much smoother recovery.
Your Experience
Your Personalized Mommy Makeover Experience
Consultation
We examine you, discuss what pregnancy or weight loss changed, and design your combination of procedures. We also talk honestly about timing, the help you will need, and whether now is your moment.
Surgery
Three to five hours at Northside under general anesthesia, combining your chosen procedures. All sutures are dissolvable, and an Exparel nerve block provides about four days of significant pain relief.
Hospital stay and early recovery
A 23-hour observation stay, then home. Hourly walking, a 5-pound lifting limit, and the surgical bra. This is where the help at home matters.
Results
Emerging as swelling settles over weeks, with the final contour and scar maturation continuing over months.
The Practice
Why Patients Choose Artisan
Female Surgeons Who Understand
A mommy makeover is deeply personal, and our female surgeons bring both expertise and genuine understanding of the changes motherhood brings.
Led by Dr. Bernadette Wang Ashraf
A board-certified plastic surgeon trained at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Wang Ashraf brings more than 20 years of breast and body surgery and meticulous microsurgical precision to every mommy makeover.
Hospital-Based Care With a 23-Hour Stay
Your surgery takes place at Northside, with overnight observation and dedicated nursing care for added comfort and safety.
Thoughtful, Detailed Care
Clear preparation and recovery guidance supports you at every step, from your first consultation to your final follow-up.
FAQ
Mommy Makeover FAQs
What procedures are included in a mommy makeover?
It is personalized, but usually a combination of a tummy tuck, breast surgery, meaning augmentation, lift, or reduction, and often liposuction. Your plan depends on what pregnancy or weight loss changed for you. It is not only for mothers either. Weight-loss patients with the same concerns are equally welcome.
I take Ozempic or another GLP-1. What do I need to know?
Please let us know well before surgery. GLP-1 medications slow digestion, which can increase the risk of aspiration under anesthesia, so you will pause your medication and follow a liquid diet for a full day beforehand. If these steps are not followed, your surgery will be rescheduled for your safety. Our medical weight loss team will help coordinate your timing.
What is diastasis recti, and can a mommy makeover fix it?
It is the separation of your abdominal muscles down the middle, stretched apart during pregnancy. It is why many women still look pregnant long after childbirth, and why core exercise does not fix it: you cannot exercise muscles back together once they have physically separated. The tummy tuck portion of a mommy makeover stitches them back together, restoring your core.
When is the right time to have one?
When you are finished having children, since a later pregnancy undoes the results, at a stable weight you have held for several months, done breastfeeding for several months, and, importantly, with reliable help at home, since you cannot lift your children for weeks afterward. We will help you decide if now is your time.
What are the risks?
A mommy makeover carries the combined risks of its component procedures, plus a bit more from the longer operation: seroma, hematoma, blood clots, infection, wound-healing issues, changes in sensation, capsular contracture around implants, asymmetry, and the possibility of revision. Your surgeon reviews all of it with you, and our detailed protocols are designed to minimize them.
How much does it cost?
It depends on your combination of procedures, plus anesthesia and facility fees. Bundling into one surgery is more cost-effective than separate operations, since you pay facility and anesthesia fees once. We provide personalized pricing at your consultation, and financing is available.
Should I do everything in one surgery or stage it?
Combining into one surgery means one recovery, one set of facility and anesthesia fees, and a more harmonious result. For most patients that is the best choice. If your health, goals, or budget make staging better, we will plan it that way. It is your call and we will guide you honestly.
Will I have scars?
Yes, permanent ones: a low hip-to-hip abdominal scar below the bikini line, and breast scars whose pattern depends on the procedure. We place them discreetly and they fade over the first year. We will show you exactly where they will fall at your consultation.
How long is recovery?
Plan for at least 1 to 2 weeks off work, and real help at home for several weeks, since you cannot lift much, including children. No gym for 6 weeks. Swelling and final results settle over several months. Recovery depends on your specific combination and we give you a personalized timeline.
Will I stay in the hospital?
Yes, a 23-hour observation stay at Northside. For a combined operation this size, that overnight monitoring is an important safety feature.
Your Moment to Feel Like You Again
Visit us for a consultation, and your surgeon will design a mommy makeover around the changes you would like to restore, with clear guidance on recovery, scars, and cost.