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By Mayo Clinic staffTo use Depo-Provera:
- Consult your health care provider about a starting date. To make sure you're not pregnant when you're injected with Depo-Provera, your health care provider will do your first injection within five days of the start of your period. If you've just given birth and you're not breast-feeding, your first injection will be done within five days of giving birth. If you're breast-feeding, your first injection will be done six weeks after you give birth. You can start Depo-Provera at other times, but you may need to take a pregnancy test first.
- Prepare for your injection. Your health care provider will clean the injection site — either the upper arm or buttocks for Depo-Provera or the abdomen or upper thigh for Depo-subQ Provera 104 — with an alcohol pad. After the injection, don't massage the injection site. Depending on when your start date is, your health care provider may recommend that you use a backup method of birth control for seven days after your first injection. Backup birth control isn't necessary after subsequent injections as long as they're given on schedule.
- Schedule your next injection. Depo-Provera injections must be given every 12 weeks. If you wait longer than 13 weeks between injections, you may need to take a pregnancy test before your next injection to verify that you aren't pregnant.
References
- Zieman M. Overview of contraception. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 17, 2011.
- Depo-Provera (prescribing information). New York, N.Y.: Pfizer Inc.; 2009. http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=0ceb4952-5af3-4b80-b8b5-cea4e9a5486d. Accessed Oct. 17, 2011.
- Depo-subQ Provera (prescribing information). New York, N.Y.: Pfizer Inc.: 2010. http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=390087a6-f3c3-4f0b-a930-79acf412f153. Accessed Oct. 17, 2011.
- Kottke M. Nondaily contraceptive options: User benefits, potential for high continuation and counseling issues. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey. 2008;63:661.
- Harms RW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Oct. 18, 2011.
- Kaunitz AM. Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate for contraception. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 17, 2011.
- Depo-Provera contraceptive injection: Safety labeling changes. http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/ucm232329.htm. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed Oct. 17, 2011.
- Zieman M, et al. A Pocket Guide to Managing Contraception. Tiger, Ga.: Bridging the Gap Communications; 2010:121.
- Depo-Provera. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm. Accessed Oct. 18, 2011.
- Depo-subQ Provera. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm. Accessed Oct. 18, 2011.
- Heffron R, et al. Use of hormonal contraceptives and risk of HIV-1 transmission: A prospective cohort study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. In press. Accessed Oct. 31, 2011.
- Statement on the Heffron et al study on the safety of using hormonal contraceptives for women at risk of HIV infection. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/entity/reproductivehealth/news/Statement_Heffron_study.pdf. Accessed Oct. 18, 2011.
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