Every surgery carries risks, and mommy makeovers are no different. What matters is understanding where those risks come from and how to minimize them.
Surgical risk mainly comes from three sources:
- Factors related to you as the patient: your health, lifestyle choices, medical history, and what you disclose to your doctor,
- Factors related to your surgeon: their training, experience, and surgical technique,
- Factors related to the surgical environment: Facility accreditation, equipment, and staff expertise.
When performed by board-certified plastic surgeons in accredited facilities, mommy makeover procedures are very safe, and they are incredibly unlikely to result in major complications. Mortality rates are extremely low at approximately 0.001 to 0.008%, depending on the specific procedures combined.
However, it's important to remember that while the statistics all point toward safety, your individual outcome still depends on your individual risk profile in all three risk categories: your personal health profile, your surgeon's qualifications and experience, and the quality of the surgical facility.
WHAT GOES INTO A MOMMY MAKEOVER PROCEDURE?
Mommy makeovers are custom surgical procedures that combine multiple enhancements, typically abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), breast surgery (augmentation, lift, or reduction), and liposuction.
Combining procedures offers a number of advantages: you undergo anesthesia only once, recover from all surgeries simultaneously rather than going through multiple separate recovery periods, and significantly reduce the overall cost compared to staging procedures months apart.
However, this combination approach naturally raises an important question about safety. When multiple procedures are performed in a single operation, does the surgical time increase risk? Do complications accumulate with each added procedure?
Let's break down the stats.
WHAT YOU’RE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE VERSUS WHAT’S TRULY SERIOUS
The vast majority of patients (approximately 96 to 98%) experience no major complications whatsoever.
However, virtually all patients experience temporary side effects that are normal parts of the healing process: swelling, bruising, soreness, fatigue, and temporary numbness are universal experiences that resolve over weeks to months.
Most patients' experience falls somewhere on this spectrum, from normal healing responses to issues requiring medical attention.
Very likely (affects most patients): Temporary swelling, bruising, discomfort, fatigue, altered sensation that gradually improves. These are expected responses, not complications.
Common but manageable (5 to 25% of patients): Seroma (fluid collection requiring office drainage), minor wound healing delays, prolonged swelling in specific areas. These extend recovery time but rarely pose health risks.
Uncommon complications (1 to 4% of patients): Infection requiring antibiotics, hematoma requiring drainage, wound separation needing extended wound care. These require additional treatment but typically resolve without long-term consequences.
Rare but serious (less than 1.5% of patients): Blood clots (VTE), significant tissue necrosis, complications requiring return to the operating room, anesthesia reactions. These require aggressive medical intervention.
Extremely rare (0.001 to 0.008%): Life-threatening complications or mortality. This translates to roughly 1 in 12,500 to 1 in 100,000 procedures when performed by board-certified surgeons in accredited facilities.
To put this in perspective, your risk of a serious complication is substantially lower than the risk of being in a car accident during your daily commute.
Very importantly, almost all of the potential complications from mommy makeovers are manageable. This means they just need office visits or extended healing time, and they don't pose genuine health threats.
THE MOST COMMON ISSUES AFTER MOMMY MAKEOVERS
Most patients experience simple soreness, swelling, and bruising, which are expected outcomes from a surgery like mommy makeover, and they are part of the body's normal healing process.
The most "common issues" are actually quite uncommon, affecting 1 to 5 patients out of every 100, and they are easily manageable.
Among those issues is seroma. A seroma is a fluid collection that develops beneath the skin after surgery, typically in the abdominal area where tissue has been separated from the underlying muscle wall.
While seromas can be uncomfortable and may require drainage in your surgeon's office, they rarely pose serious health risks and resolve with appropriate management.
Hematoma, or blood collection beneath the skin, can occur in approximately 2% of mommy makeover patients. Unlike seromas, hematomas typically develop within the first 24 to 72 hours after surgery and may require a return to the operating room for treatment.
The risk of hematoma increases with certain factors including high blood pressure, elevated BMI, and use of blood-thinning medications.
Surgical site infections occur in 1 to 4% of abdominoplasty patients, with rates varying based on patient risk factors.
WHAT ARE POTENTIAL SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS?
Venous thromboembolism, which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is the most serious and potentially life-threatening complication associated with mommy makeover procedures.
Modern safety protocols dramatically reduce VTE risk. Sequential compression devices (leg squeezers) are applied before surgery begins and pump blood through your leg veins throughout the procedure.
For patients at higher risk, based on scoring systems that evaluate age, BMI, surgical complexity, and medical history, surgeons prescribe blood-thinning medications like enoxaparin for 7 to 14 days after surgery. Early mobilization, beginning within hours of surgery, further reduces clot formation risk. Evidence shows that these comprehensive prevention strategies, when properly implemented, reduce VTE occurrence by more than 60% in high-risk patients.
Anesthesia complications, while rare with modern monitoring and board-certified anesthesia providers, carry inherent risks that increase with longer surgical times. Procedures exceeding four to five hours see incrementally higher rates of complications related to prolonged anesthesia exposure.
This is why experienced surgeons like Dr. Jaime Schwartz MD FACS carefully plan combination procedures to remain within safe time limits, typically targeting completion within five to six hours.
Skin or tissue necrosis, where areas of skin or fat lose blood supply and die, can occur more frequently in smokers and patients with diabetes.
Smoking increases tissue necrosis risk by 4.3 times compared to non-smokers, which is why most plastic surgeons require complete smoking cessation for at least four weeks before and after surgery. Some surgeons refuse to operate on active smokers due to this dramatically elevated risk.
WHAT INCREASES YOUR PERSONAL RISK?
Smoking is the single biggest factor that can raise your risk of complications. Smoking increases overall complication rates by 3.7 times compared to non-smokers.
And it's not just complications. Smoking also makes it harder to recover from surgery. That's because nicotine causes long-term constriction of blood vessels, reducing oxygen delivery to healing tissues at precisely the time they need it most.
The good news is that quitting smoking has near-immediate benefits. Research shows that each tobacco-free week after the initial four weeks improves surgical outcomes by 19%. This is why, if you are a smoker, surgeons often require a minimum of four to six weeks without cigarettes.
Following smoking, body mass index is another major factor that can influence complication rates. When patients have a BMI over 35, the likelihood of complications skyrockets. This increases surgical complexity, operative times (meaning more time under anesthesia), infection rates, and it raies the risk of VTE.
Many experienced plastic surgeons recommend achieving a BMI below 30 before scheduling mommy makeover surgery, and some set even stricter limits of BMI below 28 for optimal safety and aesthetic results.
Diabetes also increases complication risk. Surgeons typically measure hemoglobin A1c levels, which reflect average blood sugar over the preceding three months. Many guidelines recommend postponing surgery if A1c exceeds 8.0 to 9.0%, though individual surgeons may have stricter requirements.
Multiple other patient factors influence risk. This can include age, gender, surgical history, current medications and your current supplement regimen.
All of these factors we have discussed so far are broad, industry-wide averages. If you have questions or if you would like to know more about whether you would be a good candidate for mommy makeover, it's important to speak directly with a qualified plastic surgeon. Your surgeon can review your specific situation with you and advise you on the safest route forward.
WHY SURGEON QUALIFICATIONS AND FACILITY STANDARDS MATTER
Board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery is the gold standard for surgeon credibility, and you should treat it as non-negotiable when choosing a plastic surgeon.
ABPS certification requires six to ten years of rigorous post-medical school surgical training, including a minimum of three years in general surgery followed by two to three years of dedicated plastic surgery residency. ABPS certification requires surgeons to stay current through mandatory continuing medical education and periodic re-certification, ensuring their knowledge doesn't become outdated.
A great way to reduce your risk of complications is to work with a surgeon with experience and surgical volume. High-volume surgeons who regularly perform mommy makeovers develop refined techniques, faster operative times, and enhanced ability to recognize and manage complications when they occur.
When evaluating surgeons, look at their mommy makeover before-and-after photo galleries. Ask about annual procedure volume, and their teaching and writing history. Surgeons who train other physicians and contribute to the scientific literature typically maintain higher standards and stay current with evolving techniques.
Next, look for a surgeon who practices at an accredited facility. Facilities accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF), The Joint Commission, or the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care must meet rigorous standards that go far beyond basic state licensing.
These standards mandate that only board-certified surgeons with hospital privileges may operate, that comprehensive emergency equipment and medications remain immediately available, that backup power sources provide at least two hours of operation, and that advanced patient monitoring occurs throughout surgery and recovery.
AAAASF-accredited facilities demonstrate mortality rates as low as 0.002% and complication rates below 1%, significantly better than national averages. Accreditation requires 100% compliance with standards; there is no partial accreditation. Regular inspections by trained healthcare specialists, peer review programs, and continuous quality improvement initiatives ensure standards are maintained.
The three-year accreditation cycle with interim self-reporting keeps facilities accountable.
WHAT IS THE MOMMY MAKEOVER DEATH RATE?
The controversy over combining multiple procedures rose from a 2015 study showing progressive complication rates increasing with each added procedure.
However, a comprehensive 2024 study found that when board-certified plastic surgeons perform combined procedures on appropriately selected patients, complication rates show no significant increase compared to single procedures when patient risk factors are accounted for. And the data bears this out. According to the ASPS, the death rate for mommy makeovers is extremely low, less than 0.02%.
The key lies in patient selection and surgical planning. Healthy patients with BMI below 30, no smoking history, well-controlled or absent diabetes, and low overall risk profiles safely tolerate combined procedures lasting up to five hours.
And instead for high-risk patients, those requiring extensive procedures that would exceed six hours, or individuals with multiple medical comorbidities, they may benefit from staging procedures separately.
HOW DR. JAIME SCHWARTZ PRIORITIZES YOUR SAFETY
Expertise matters, and Beverly Hills mommy makeover surgeon Dr. Jaime Schwartz MD, FACS brings an exceptional set of credentials to mommy makeover surgery.
Board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and a member of the Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons, his training pedigree includes Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he graduated in 2003 after conducting breast cancer research at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, followed by an integrated six-year plastic surgery residency at Georgetown University Hospital, one of the nation's first and most prestigious plastic surgery programs. He then completed fellowship training in advanced face and body aesthetics at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, working alongside the team that performed America's first face transplant.
Dr. Schwartz currently serves as Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery at the USC Keck School of Medicine, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, reflecting his ongoing commitment to education and academic excellence.
Groundbreaking recovery and safety techniques
Dr. Schwartz has developed several proprietary techniques to enhance patient safety and optimize recovery. His Schwartz Rapid Recuperation™ Protocol reduces post-operative discomfort and accelerates healing. The protocol uses Total Intravenous Anesthesia (TIVA), a gentler form of general anesthesia that avoids breathing tubes and anesthetic gases. TIVA medications metabolize within hours rather than days, dramatically reducing the nausea, grogginess, and cognitive fog that many patients experience with traditional anesthesia.
The second pillar of Rapid Recuperation is advanced pain management. Dr. Schwartz injects BOTOX into the pectoral muscles during breast surgery to reduce post-operative tightness and spasm. He also uses EXPAREL, a long-acting local anesthetic that provides up to 72 hours of continuous pain relief at the surgical site. This multimodal approach means that over 90% of his patients can stand, walk, and even go out to dinner the day after surgery, with most requiring only over-the-counter pain medication rather than prescription opioids. Most patients return to work within a few days to one week.
As well, the Schwartz Scar Secure™ Protocol emerged from Dr. Schwartz's work as principal investigator for a Phase 2 FDA clinical trial focused on preventing and correcting poorly healed breast scars.
This comprehensive approach to scar management, integrated into every surgery he performs, focuses on relieving tension on incisions, optimizing wound closure techniques, and implementing evidence-based post-operative scar care.
Dr. Schwartz's facilities meet the highest accreditation standards, with his surgical center located adjacent to his Beverly Hills office. He maintains hospital affiliations with Providence Saint John's Health Center and PIH Health Whittier Hospital, ensuring hospital privileges that reflect peer review and oversight. His practice is accredited by The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and his commitment to comprehensive patient care includes 24/7 availability of his nursing team and staff during the recovery process, with phone support for any medical concerns.
His recognition extends beyond credentials to documented patient outcomes. Dr. Schwartz has earned multiple Physician Excellence Awards, the highest honor at PIH Health, and received the "Caring Star" Award every single year during his residency, an honor bestowed by patients to top healthcare providers. He has been named a Top 100 "Core Plastic Surgeon" by RealSelf, earned multiple Physician's Choice and Compassionate Doctor Recognition awards from Vitals.com, and was featured as a trusted expert on the television shows "Botched" and "The Doctors," where he is called upon to address complex plastic surgery problems and revisions.
MAKING THE SAFETY-FOCUSED DECISION
Reducing your risk ahead of any surgery involves managing the three factors we mentioned at the outset of this guide: Your health, your surgeon's expertise, and the quality of the facility.
Do what you can to improve your physical health before surgery. Stop smoking, follow your physician's advice around medication and pick up physical activity that you can safely do. Physical conditioning before surgery, sometimes called "prehabilitation," protects your safety during the procedure and improves your healing after.
When evaluating surgeons, verify board certification directly through the American Board of Plastic Surgery website rather than relying solely on office claims. During consultations, ask specific questions about the surgeon's mommy makeover experience, including annual volume, typical operative times, and complication rates. A surgeon confident in their abilities and committed to transparency will provide straightforward answers.
Understand the realistic recovery timeline for your specific combination of procedures. Most mommy makeover patients need at least two weeks before returning to desk work, four to six weeks before resuming exercise, and three to six months for swelling to fully resolve. Plan for adequate help at home, particularly with childcare and household tasks, for the first two weeks. Arrange for a responsible adult to stay with you for at least the first 48 hours after surgery.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP WITH DR. SCHWARTZ
The information in this guide provides the foundation you need to understand mommy makeover risks, but your individual risk profile is unique.
Your age, health history, lifestyle factors, aesthetic goals, and body type all influence which procedures are appropriate for you, how they should be sequenced, and what safety protocols matter most in your specific case.
Dr. Jaime Schwartz takes a different approach to consultations than many practices. Rather than rushing through a standard presentation, he invests time in understanding your complete medical picture, your concerns about safety, your aesthetic vision, and your life circumstances that will affect recovery. He'll review your health history in detail, discuss which modifiable risk factors you should address before surgery, and explain his specific surgical plan tailored to your anatomy and goals.
During your consultation, you'll learn realistic timelines for your recovery, see before-and-after photos of patients with similar body types and procedure combinations, and have the opportunity to ask detailed questions about anything discussed in this guide.
If you're ready to explore whether a mommy makeover is right for you, or if you have specific questions about your individual risk factors and how they can be optimized, contact Dr. Schwartz's Beverly Hills office to schedule your personalized consultation. His team is available to answer preliminary questions and help you prepare for your appointment.