The contraceptive injection

DEPO PROVERA is a family planning injection that protects women from becoming pregnant. It is given in a muscle, usually in the buttocks or arm, every three months or 90 days. Do not massage the area where you received the injection.

The injection works by preventing the ovaries from releasing an egg every month. If no egg is released then pregnancy cannot occur. The product has 99 per cent effectiveness. It however, should not be used by women who are pregnant or think that they might be pregnant and by women who have unusual vaginal bleeding.

Who can use it?

The injection is best suited for women who are not pregnant

do not have unusual vaginal bleeding

are breastfeeding

wish to space their births

The first Depo Provera injection can be given at any time, once the nurse is reasonably sure that the woman is not pregnant. It must be given by a health professional, for example, a nurse/midwife. You must have your next injection three months or 90 days later and every 90 days after that. If you began taking the injection during the first seven days of your menstrual period, you are protected from pregnancy immediately.

However, if you began taking the injection seven or more days after your period, you need to use a backup method, like the condom, for two days.

So you cannot keep your next appointment

You may become pregnant, you should use a backup method, like the condom, and return to the clinic as near to the date as possible and talk with a nurse.

To help you remember when to go to the clinic for your next injection, the nurse/midwife will write the date of your next injection on your appointment card

Minor side effects

In the first six months you might have irregular period or unpredictable bleeding

After the first six months you might not have a period. This is because the Depo Provera causes the lining of the womb to get thin so there is nothing to shed.

When you stop taking the injection, it may take up to nine months for periods to become regular again and for you to become pregnant again.

If you have any problems while using the method, go back to the clinic and speak with the nurse/midwife.

- The National Family
Planning Board.

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