Photography by Cameron Flaisch and Contributed by Snodgrass and Robinson
First, moms are amazing. For nine months, they grow and carry a whole other human, then command unearthly strength to bring that new life into the world. That’s incredible. The whole process, though beautiful and rewarding, can also be exceptionally taxing on a woman’s body. Kevin Snodgrass and Chris Robinson, the two plastic surgeons behind Snodgrass & Robinson Plastic Surgery Specialists, want to honor moms in the Northwest Georgia area by offering a Mommy Makeover.
“The Mommy Makeover is a procedure combining the kinds of things that get changed with pregnancy,” says Snodgrass. “It involves rejuvenation of the breasts and tummy. Looseness gets fixed and sometimes muscles get repaired if they’ve been weakened in pregnancy.”
The Mommy Makeover is a combination of two surgeries: a breast augmentation and a tummy tuck.
“Pregnancy is traumatic to a female’s body and there’s nothing that’s going to undo that damage,” Snodgrass says. “The procedures that we offer are going to try to help reverse most or many of those effects. We can’t fix it, but we can significantly help it.”
“Women come in and they love their kids, they care so much, but at some point they’ll say, ‘hey, it’s my time now,’ and decide to do this for themselves. They get a chance to think about what they want,” Robinson says.
A breast surgery and tummy tuck are more invasive surgeries that require some time. A breast augmentation takes about an hour, a mini breast lift takes an hour and a half while a full breast lift takes two. Tummy tucks are more variable and can take between one and a half to three hours. What’s especially unique about the Mommy Makeover is that not only are you tackling two procedures at once, but Robinson and Snodgrass are both in the room for the surgery, cutting time in the operating room down to two and a half hours.
“When it comes to the procedure itself, we’re not coming up with something radically new. What’s new is the fact that we’re working on these big cases together.” Snodgrass says. “When you have two surgeons, it keeps the time under anesthesia down, it keeps the safety up, and it keeps the quality up. That’s what’s really unique. You get two opinions, two minds that really do work well together in the OR.”
“Since Kevin and I work so closely together, we’re in a unique position to be able to offer a Mommy Makeover.” Robinson says. When we have those combination cases, we can do them together, side-by-side. What you get is two double-board-certified surgeons operating on a patient at one time to hopefully get the fastest and safest result”.
The two men have been working together for almost 15 years and have a lot to show for it. They’ve done thousands of surgeries, but this idea of working together is a relatively new one.
“We were in the operating room one day working together on a case. I had just finished up and he was starting to work on his part. Then it was just kind of like a light bulb came on,” Snodgrass says. “We worked well together, and it’s one of the unique things about this practice and what we can offer. Out of all our friends in the business, especially in this area, there’s no one else doing what we can do by working together at the same time.”
Robinson and Snodgrass took similar paths to get to where they are today. They came to Rome right out of residency, both in group practices. However, they felt a calling to plastic surgery that led them to 184 Three Rivers Drive.
“When I got out of residency in 1996, I wound up here and have been here ever since. The group practice I was with did a lot of administrative work and, for me, private practice was more attractive,” Snodgrass says. “The practice of plastic surgeons and plastic surgery is different than some of the other medical subspecialties, so it was beneficial to be on my own.”
“I came in as a part of a large multispecialty group and as you transition your practice towards plastic surgery, it was a tough fit for growing that side of things,” Robinson says. “Kevin and I are very like-minded, we approach things the same way, and it was just a good fit, so I came here.”
“Yes. Since then, I’ve picked up things from him, and he’s picked up things from me. We’ve made each other better as surgeons,” Snodgrass adds.
Together, the pair of plastic surgeons can boast about 35 years of experience combined, which is comforting for even the most anxious of women considering the procedure.
“Over the years, I’ve done lots of breast surgery. I’d say our top three procedures are breast lift, breast augmentation and tummy tucks,” Snodgrass says.
“In our region, that’s just what walks through the door,” Robinson adds. “There’s less of a market for eyelids, face, and liposuction, though we do those things. We do everything from head to toe.”
New mothers or women who have another child to look after shouldn’t be too concerned with recovery time. When you combine the two surgeries into one under both Robinson and Snodgrass, you’re spending far less time under anesthesia and decrease your recovery time.
“After this procedure, a woman’s back on her feet in a matter of two weeks,” Snodgrass says. “They can get back to full activity in a matter of six weeks. That’s the thing with this combined procedure, you get one surgery; you have one recovery time.”
Spring is a busy time of year for these types of procedures. For women who are interested, they should call in soon to set up a consultation.
“If we have a big case to work together, we have to rearrange our schedules so that we are both free to be in the OR together.” Snodgrass says.
“Of course, we accommodate for people. We’re not going to turn anyone away because this day was supposed to be my office day, or his office day, we always work around patients,” Robinson adds.
“That’s right. The main thing that the nurses, Dr. Robinson and I do is listen and make sure we’re addressing what bothers our patients; that’s very important,” Snodgrass says.
For women looking to give themselves a postpartum gift, they shouldn’t be worried about how they could be perceived. While it is not a cure-all, plastic surgery is a just one option available on the path to rediscover a misplaced sense of confidence.
“Plastic surgery used to be something people kept secret, that people didn’t discuss. Now it’s something that people are a lot more open about,” Robinson says. “I think a big difference with what we do from other medical professions is people come to us because they want to. Everybody comes in with a desire, something that’s bothering them, and we get to come up with a plan with them to get to where they want to be. If we get to make them happy, that’s the most satisfying thing.”
