More plastic surgery after pregnancy

FREDERICKSBURG, Va., Sept. 29 (UPI) -- More mothers are turning to plastic surgery to regain their figures and are open about it, according to a Virginia plastic-surgery practice.

"Most of our tummy-tuck patients and breast-surgery patients are mothers who want to restore their youthful shape," says Lesi Beamon Mackey, practice administrator for Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg, Va. "With the increasing awareness of plastic surgery, we find more are discussing their surgeries publicly."

Nationwide, plastic surgeons performed 76 percent more breast lifts and 115 percent more tummy tucks in 2005 than in 2000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Though childbearing is not the catalyst for all these procedures -- indeed, tummy tucks are performed for men as well -- motherhood probably fueled many of them, according to Mackey.