Beth underwent a breast reduction procedure after many years of being unhappy with the size of her breasts. She explains to Alex in the latest episode of Konfidence with Alex Karidis how their size in relation to her petite frame affected her confidence from her teenage years.
Alex: Now, you’ve had some surgery on the breasts. The common perception for many people is that when you say I’m going to have surgery on your breasts, they think you’re going to be bigger. But in your case, that wasn’t the case.
Beth: No. As a teenager, I developed quite large breasts. I’m not very tall; I’m quite narrow, so they felt so big. I probably got to a G cup quickly. Lots of people think it must be wonderful to have big breasts, but when you’re growing up, you get quite a lot of unwanted attention.
It affected me a lot, even playing sports because I was so self-conscious. Growing up in the late 80s and early 90s, the fashion was for little slip dresses. Well, that’s out because there was no way you could get away with it.
Then you have children, and your shape changes, and I breastfed both my girls. I was really lucky to be able to feed them both. I know not everyone can do that. So, I was glad I was able to do that. But it did change the shape of my breasts a lot. I got to a stage where I felt it was making me unhappy.
I felt very matronly. That’s the word I would use. Buying clothing was really problematic because you’ve got narrow shoulders, but then you have to squeeze something over your breasts. And so, you have a shelf and no shape underneath. So it actually affects quite a lot.
Beth then explained why she made the decision to go ahead with surgery at the height of the Covid lockdown.
Beth: At the beginning of lockdown, I came for my consultation. It was about six months before I started to think about it seriously. Two things happened. The girls were older, and I felt I was in my mid-40s, so now is a good time to do it. I got to the end of my tether and just thought, right. I either do it now, or I won’t do it.
Alex: Was there an event or something that brought it on, or was it a slow burn?
Beth: I’ve wanted to do it for a long time. But there were certain barriers, particularly the children, and mums always put everyone else first, don’t they?
I wanted to get quite fit. I was conscious of my weight, so I lost some. That was the final piece that said nothing would change unless I went and had something done.
I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror with nothing on, and I thought that was really sad.
I think a lot of people did certain things during lockdown because they were unable to do their usual routine. I just thought I’d look after myself and address the issues that I had. And, actually, the downtime was fine because people weren’t doing anything anyway.
