A mum of four has had surgery to help reduce her slack stomach muscles and lack of elasticity after giving birth. Danielle Grant, 34, like a number of women felt self-conscious due to the loose skin and suffered some health issues following the pregnancy.
Danielle, a PA from Leeds, lives with her husband and four children, she had waited 12 years for the surgery since the birth of her first child. She underwent a tummy tuck known as an abdominoplasty, a procedure in which the loose skins and stretch marks left by pregnancy are restored.
After a referral from her GP, Danielle was sent to Spire Leeds Hospital. During the pregnancy, her stomach muscles had herniated due to pressure so she received an abdominoplasty and a hernia operation at the same time.
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Danielle loved to exercise and went straight back to working out following the birth of her kids. However she found it difficult to shift the baggy skin.
She said: "It was really frustrating! I love to exercise, and I returned to the gym as soon as I could following the birth of each of my children. No matter how many sit-ups I did, I couldn’t shift it.
"As an active gym-goer with a slim physique I knew that exercise alone would not fix it and I would feel self-conscious about my loose skin, particularly in the gym. I dressed in baggy tops to cover the bulge. I waited 12 years until after the birth of my fourth child to do something about it.”
She had the surgery in January 2022 under the care of Mr Waseem Bhat, consultant plastic, reconstructive, aesthetic & hand surgeon. The procedure took two and a half hours and Danielle was able to return home after a couple of days, whilst wearing a compression corset day and night for six weeks.
Commenting on the popularity of abdominoplasty, Mr Bhat said, “More people are requesting this procedure and cosmetic surgery on the whole. Due to a combination of people being more aware of the procedure and perhaps less fear and stigma around plastic surgery, it is more popular. There is also a culture change and the media has driven this to some extent through reality shows where people talk openly about the surgery they have had and how it has transformed their life. This tends to give people the confidence to explore this for themselves.”
He described the operation, to lift the skin, repair abdominal muscle and trim excess creating a new naval. Mr Bhat said:
“This involved making an incision on the lower part of the abdomen from hip to hip, lifting the tissue up repair and tighten the abdominal stomach muscles. Her hernia was then repaired by Mr Barlow.
"Her abdominal tissue was noted to be lax and this was tightened with sutures (stitches). The excess abdominal tissue was then removed and the skin closed with dissolvable sutures and a new naval (belly button) is created. We do encourage patients to think carefully about having these procedures as they can be complex.”
Danielle says she loves the results and feels much more confident about her body compared to before. She said: “I’m delighted with the results. My skin is smooth and my stomach is flat. My confidence has increased and I’m enjoying buying and wearing clothes that I couldn’t wear before. It’s also helping me to fulfil my goal to become a fit and active role model for my kids.”
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