Carlita's combination surgery journey

“I felt like I’d lost all my shape… I just didn’t feel like me anymore”

After giving birth to her third child, Carlita was left feeling unhappy with her post-partum body. She’s not alone - around half of women report feeling dissatisfied with their body image.

The 34 year old mum embarked on a two year health journey, shedding an incredible four and a half stone. While the weight loss felt great, it hadn’t solved how Carlita felt. “If anything, I was left feeling probably worse than I was before,” she says. “I had a lot of excess skin, I had what they call the apron tummy. I’d breastfed three babies as well, so my breasts had gone saggy.”

What is an apron tummy?

An apron tummy is where excess fat and skin hangs down from the abdomen, resembling an apron. It’s commonly caused by pregnancy and significant weight loss, where the skin has lost elasticity and abdominal muscles become separated.

Choosing herself

She made the decision to undergo combination cosmetic surgery - a procedure designed to target two or more areas in one surgery.

Following a consultation with Mr Prasad, one of our most experienced and qualified cosmetic surgeons, Carlita chose to go for an extended tummy tuck with hernia and muscle repair, mons lift and a breast uplift with implants.

She found the entire consultation process refreshing and reassuring. There was no pressure to choose any particular procedure and Mr Prasad was especially reassuring throughout the entire process.

While there were moments of doubt about whether getting cosmetic surgery was selfish, or vain, she was motivated by the fact that, ultimately, the procedure was for her family.

“Ultimately, the end goal is to benefit the family and have a better version of yourself”

Throughout her cosmetic surgery journey, Pall Mall’s Cosmetic Community Group on Facebook became a huge benefit for Carlita. She connected with another woman who was at the same stage of her combination surgery journey with Mr Prasad.

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As a Mum, she found that taking a minimum of two weeks’ bed rest was difficult. “As a mum, the guilt is horrendous.” She reveals it was reassuring to have somebody to speak to who was going through something similar - most notably guilt at having paid so much money and taken so much time out for herself.

“Not only knowing that somebody else is feeling the guilt, but also knowing that it is normal, and reassuring each other that actually, we do deserve this, and then uplifting and empowering each other, I think is really, really important.”