A pregnant woman's body is truly an amazing thing, the way it can change and adapt to nourish a growing infant and prepare it for life outside the womb. But as nearly every mother knows, our bodies can't always return to their pre-pregnancy states; some of the changes are permanent.
For some women, stretch marks are one of those unwanted permanent changes of pregnancy. Pregnancy greatly stretches your belly's skin, and can leave marks that are anywhere from pink, to reddish-brown, to dark brown. Some will fade over time to a more slivery color, but they don't go away on their own. These wrinkled streaks are actually breaks in the deep part of the skin, and there is currently no effective, non-surgical way to fill in and repair those stretch marks. But that doesn't mean you're destined to live with stretch marks forever. A tummy tuck will help remove stretch marks located on the abdomen. And if your belly button has also changed shape because of your pregnancy, a tummy tuck can fix your belly button too. If you are planning future pregnancies, you should wait to have a tummy tuck, as vertical muscles in the abdomen that are tightened during surgery can separate again during pregnancy. But if you believe your days of maternity clothes are behind you and you'd like to get rid of those stretch marks, then a tummy tuck may be right for you. You can get more information about the tummy tuck procedure, see before and after pictures and a video about tummy tucks on our Tummy Tuck web page.