A Mom of Seven Who Wanted Her Body Back

This patient came to Dr. Racanelli's New Jersey practice in her 40s after breastfeeding seven children. Like many mothers, the physical changes that accumulated over years of pregnancy and nursing had left her unhappy with the appearance of her breasts, specifically the positioning of the breast tissue and the size of her areolas. Her breasts had descended over time, with volume that had shifted downward and away from where it once sat before having children.

Importantly, she was satisfied with her overall breast volume. She was not looking to go larger or smaller. What she wanted was to have her breasts look the way they did before motherhood, with the tissue repositioned upward, the nipple and areola returned to a natural position on the breast mound, and the areola reduced to a size proportionate to her new breast contour.

Why This Mom Needed a Lift, Not an Implant

One of the most common misconceptions Dr. Racanelli encounters is patients who believe a breast augmentation will correct breast drooping or reposition a descended nipple. It will not. A breast augmentation adds volume. It does nothing to address where that volume sits on the chest or where the nipple points.

For this patient, augmentation was never part of the conversation. She had sufficient volume. What she lacked was position and shape. A bilateral breast lift, also called a mastopexy, was the appropriate procedure because it repositions the existing breast tissue upward, elevates the nipple to a natural height on the breast mound, and reduces the areola to a proportionate size, all without adding or removing volume.

This distinction matters, and Dr. Racanelli addresses it directly with every patient who presents with ptosis. Placing an implant in a breast with significant droop does not lift the breast. It makes a drooping breast larger. Patients who need a lift need a lift.

Restoring What Seven Pregnancies Changed

Following her bilateral breast lift with Dr. Racanelli, this patient achieved perkier, more youthful-looking breasts with the same volume she came in with, now repositioned to where it sat before seven pregnancies and years of breastfeeding. The nipple and areola were elevated to a natural position on the breast mound and the areola was reduced to a size proportionate to her overall breast shape.

The result is what a well-executed breast lift is designed to deliver: not a different body, but her body restored. No implants were used. The improvement came entirely from repositioning what was already there.

For Moms Who Want Both a Lift and More Volume

Some patients present to Dr. Racanelli wanting both a lift and additional volume. In those cases, Dr. Racanelli stages the two procedures rather than performing them simultaneously, a clinical decision he explains directly:

"Although many plastic surgeons will perform a breast lift and an augmentation at the same time, I will not. I stage these procedures as I believe fundamentally they work against one another. The way to get a bad scar from plastic surgery is to place a lot of tension across the scar. In a breast lift, there is an inherent amount of tension designed in the procedure which actually lifts the breast. If you add an implant at the same time, you will essentially be doubling the tension across those incisions, leading to suboptimal scarring."

-- Dr. Joseph A. Racanelli, Board-Certified Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon

For this patient, staging was not necessary. A lift alone achieved everything she was looking for.

About Dr. Joseph A. Racanelli

Dr. Joseph A. Racanelli is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon with offices in Morristown, Newark, and New York City. With more than two decades of practice and over 10,000 breast procedures performed, breast surgery is the foundation of his clinical work.

Every procedure is performed personally by Dr. Racanelli in a fully accredited hospital operating room with general anesthesia administered by a board-certified anesthesiologist. He operates one major case per day, and every postoperative follow-up visit is with Dr. Racanelli himself.

If you are a mother considering a breast lift in New Jersey or New York after pregnancy or breastfeeding, schedule a consultation with Dr. Racanelli to discuss what is achievable for your anatomy and goals.