In recent years, plastic surgery has been working closely with obstetrics and gynecology for the restoration of the abdominal area after childbirth.
Restoration can be performed immediately; that is, after the obstetrician’s C-section and the completion of birth, the plastic surgeon undertakes to correct the diastasis of the rectus abdominis muscles, which have experienced some laxity during the nine months of pregnancy. Concurrently, the C-section incision is sutured in layers to achieve the best possible aesthetic result. Of course, if the woman has completed her family and will not have further pregnancies, the plastic surgeon can remove excess skin and subcutaneous fat from the abdominal area, thus accelerating the area’s recovery.
Abdominal restoration can also be performed at a later stage, meaning months after childbirth, once breastfeeding has concluded, excess weight has been lost, and the skin has returned to its previous state. In this case, especially after multiple pregnancies, persistent skin laxity in the abdominal area often remains, which is almost impossible to correct with physical exercise.
Postoperatively, the patient is advised to use a special surgical body corset for a few weeks and to avoid strenuous physical activity and exercise for approximately one month. Scar healing is closely monitored with follow-up visits to the clinic, and the use of a special silicone adhesive strip over the wound is often recommended. Finally, if pregnancy has caused stretch marks in the abdominal area or other parts of the body due due to rapid weight fluctuations, these can be treated with sessions of a specialized laser, Fraxel, which is designed to soften and depigment these changes in the skin and subcutaneous tissue.