Mommy Makeover
Specialists of NYC
By Darren M. Smith, MD, FACS
Performed by Dr. Darren Smith — the surgeon who wrote the book — in our private Ritz Tower surgical suite on East 57th Street.
As featured in
Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon (ABPS) · Dual Fellowship-Trained · President, NYRSPS · Nationally Recognized Surgical Educator
The Manhattan Mommy
Makeover, Refined
Dr. Darren Smith co-authored the two most-cited mommy makeover papers in the plastic surgery literature. This work helped define how postpartum procedures are combined into a single safe operation with stunning results. He brings this expertise to every case. Ritz Tower, Manhattan.
Get in touchWhy Patients Choose Dr. Smith
The research other surgeons cite.
In 2015, Dr. Smith co-authored the two most-cited papers in the mommy makeover literature (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery), establishing how postpartum procedures are safely combined into a single operation. When other practices describe this surgery, they're often citing his work.
One surgeon, start to finish.
This is a solo practice. No residents, no rotating providers, no franchise model. Your consultation, your operation, and every follow-up visit are with Dr. Smith personally.
Natural, proportionate results.
The goal is a body that looks like yours — restored, not manufactured. Dr. Smith's aesthetic philosophy favors proportion and refinement over volume: results that whisper.
One Surgery, One Recovery
No two mommy makeovers are the same operation. The term describes an approach, not a fixed menu: a tummy tuck, breast lift or augmentation, and liposuction are possibilities, but which procedures you actually need — and how they're combined — is determined by your anatomy, your goals, and how pregnancy specifically changed your body.
At the center for most patients is true diastasis recti repair: the abdominal muscles separated by pregnancy are surgically restored, not merely tightened at the skin. The degree of separation varies widely from patient to patient, which is why the repair is planned from your exam, not from a template. This is the difference between a flat closure and a rebuilt core.
When procedures are combined, they're planned as one integrated operation — incisions, tissue planes, and recovery designed to work together. One anesthesia event, one recovery window, one coordinated result built around a single patient. For mothers planning around a family calendar, that unified recovery is often the deciding factor.
Before & After
Each photo portrays an actual patient of Dr. Smith's, shown with written permission. Results vary by anatomy and surgical plan.
Wondering what's possible for you?
Get in touchHow we approach your consultation
Most of what we do at a consultation is explore your aesthetic goals, evaluate your anatomy, and design a strategy that bridges the two to deliver stunning, natural results. That sounds simple, and in a way it is, but the bridge is where all of the actual work lives, because two women can walk in with the same goal and need genuinely different operations to get there.
So when we say we evaluate your anatomy, what we really mean is that we are answering a short list of physical questions. How much loose skin is there, and where does it sit relative to your navel. Is the fullness in your abdomen skin, or fat, or the muscles having separated during pregnancy, since those three things look similar in the mirror and are treated in completely different ways. How much breast tissue is left after nursing, and where does the nipple sit relative to the fold underneath the breast, because that single measurement is usually what decides whether an implant alone will do the job or whether the breast also needs to be lifted. And how does the skin behave when we test it, meaning does it snap back or does it stay where you put it, which tells us a great deal about how much your result will hold over the years to come.
Now, the reason we go through all of that before talking about procedures at all is that the honest recommendation is not always the one a patient arrives expecting. Sometimes it is fewer operations than the list she brought in, because two well-chosen procedures will look better and recover faster than five that fight each other. And sometimes it is more. Either way, you hear the reasoning, and you see the plan in writing, before anyone asks you to commit to anything.
The name of the game is matching the operation to the tissue in front of us rather than to a package, and that is truly the whole philosophy here.
Timing and candidacy
We turn patients away, and we would rather tell you that now than at a consultation you paid for. Weight has to be stable, nursing has to be finished, and your family should be complete. If your weight has moved more than about ten pounds in the last three months, or you are still nursing, or you are planning another pregnancy, waiting will give you a better result than operating will. These are not preferences; they are the conditions under which the result holds.
In her words
Individual patient. Results and experiences vary.
Cost
Mommy makeover surgery with Dr. Smith is priced to your individual surgical plan — the procedures you actually need, combined into one operation. Because no two plans are alike, an exact quote is provided at your consultation, after your examination and surgical plan. This is a comprehensive, single-surgeon operation at a private Manhattan practice.
Common questions
How long is the recovery?
Most patients working remotely are back at it around seven days, and most patients going into an office are back at about two weeks. The first several days are the hardest, with tightness across the abdomen that makes standing fully upright difficult, and that eases considerably through the first week. Light exercise starts at three weeks, and you are cleared for full activity at six weeks.
When can I exercise again?
Walking begins right away and we encourage it. Light exercise starts at three weeks, and you are cleared for full activity, including lifting and core work, at six weeks. Those are the same milestones for everyone, and the reason we hold the six-week line on core work in particular is that the muscle repair feels solid well before it is actually at full strength.
When can I pick up my children?
This is the question we get most often, and it is the hardest part of recovery for most mothers. Nothing over about ten pounds for the first two weeks, and no lifting a toddler for four to six weeks, because that motion loads the muscle repair directly. Arranging help in advance for this window is the single most useful thing you can do to prepare.
Is it done in one operation?
Yes. Our mommy makeovers are performed in a single operation, as outpatient surgery, in our accredited suite in the Ritz Tower. You are welcome to stay overnight in the suite with one of our nurses, or a nurse will accompany you to a nearby hotel, or to your home if you live in Manhattan.
Will I be asleep?
Yes. A full mommy makeover involving a tummy tuck and muscle repair is performed under general anesthesia, and that is the safe and appropriate choice for an operation of that length. A board-certified physician anesthesiologist is present for the entirety of your case.
Is it safe to combine several procedures at once?
In appropriately selected patients, yes. What drives risk is not the number of procedures so much as total anesthetic time, blood loss, positioning, and your underlying health, which is why the selection and the planning are where the real safety work happens. When a plan would run too long to do safely at once, we stage it into two sittings rather than push through it.
How long after having a baby should I wait?
Generally three to six months after you finish breastfeeding, or three to six months after delivery if you are not breastfeeding. What we are really waiting for in either case is for your body composition to stabilize, meaning your weight and the distribution of your tissue have both settled and stopped moving. Pregnancy and nursing each change that considerably, and if we operate while it is still shifting, we are planning against a body that will not exist by the time you have healed.
Do I need to lose weight first?
Stability matters more than the number. What we look for is that your weight has not moved more than roughly ten pounds over the last three months. A tummy tuck sets the tension of your abdominal skin at the moment of surgery, so significant loss afterward leaves it loose again, and significant gain puts the muscle repair under a load it was not designed to carry.
Do you see patients from out of town?
We do, regularly. Consultations can be done by video and we will coordinate your surgical date with your travel. Plan on staying in the New York area for about a week afterward so we can see you for your early post-operative visits.
Is there a consultation fee?
Yes. Consultations with Dr. Smith are $500, credited in full toward the cost of your procedure. The consultation includes a personal examination with Dr. Smith, your surgical plan, and an exact quote — so you leave knowing precisely what your operation involves and what it costs.
Does insurance cover it?
Essentially no. A mommy makeover is cosmetic surgery and is paid out of pocket. There are narrow exceptions that occasionally apply to a functional problem treated at the same time, such as a hernia repair, and if that applies to you we will tell you, but it should not factor into your planning.
Is financing available?
Yes. For patients who prefer to preserve liquidity, tailored payment arrangements are available and discussed privately during your consultation, and our patient coordinator can walk you through the options.
Get in touch
Tell us a little about what you're looking for, and Alayna, Dr. Smith's patient coordinator, will reach out within one business day. Prefer to skip ahead? You can book your consultation with Dr. Smith directly here.
Thank you — Alayna, Dr. Smith's patient coordinator, will reach out within one business day.
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- Phone
- (212) 206-8026
- Address
- 111 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022
- Hours
- Monday–Friday 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
