What you can expect

To use Depo-Provera:

• Consult your health care provider about a starting date. To ensure you're not pregnant when you're injected with Depo-Provera, your health care provider will likely give you your first injection within seven days of the start of your period.

  If you've just given birth, your first injection will be done within five days of giving birth, even if you're breast-feeding. You can start Depo-Provera at other times, but you might need to take a pregnancy test first.

• Prepare for your injection. Your health care provider will clean the injection site with an alcohol pad. After the injection, don't massage the injection site.

  Depending on your start date, your health care provider might 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 should be given every three months. If you wait longer than 13 weeks between injections, you might need to take a pregnancy test before your next injection.