Q. Does the DMPA injection hurt?

A. Not usually. It’s a very small injection and most people find it doesn’t hurt much at all.

Q. What if I am late going back for my next injection?

A. If it is less than two weeks from the date that you were due to have the repeat injection, you can have another injection and you should be covered against pregnancy. If it is more than two weeks after the date that you were due to have the repeat injection, and you have had sex in those two weeks, you will have to wait a while to make sure you are not pregnant

Use condoms or the minipill for two weeks from the last time you had sex, and then have a pregnancy test If the test is negative, which means you are not pregnant, you can have another injection. If the test is positive which means you are pregnant, talk to your doctor about the choices you have.

Q. If I want to become pregnant when I stop having the injections, will it be more difficult for me to get pregnant because I have been using DMPA for a long time?

A. No, it does not matter how long you have been using DMPA, it would take you the same length of time to get pregnant as it would take if you had used it only once. It is true though, that it can take quite a long time for a regular period pattern to start after you stop using DMPA Eight months to a year is not unusual.

Q. I’ve heard that DMPA can make you infertile. Is that true?

A. No. Once your periods come back your chances of pregnancy are the same as they were before you started it But because of the long delay, it probably isn’t a great choice for someone who is thinking about having a baby in the next year or two.

Q, Does DMPA increase my chances of getting breast cancer? A. DMPA was found to increase the risk of breast cancer in some of the experimental animals in which it was first tried.

There is absolutely no evidence that it increases the risk of breast cancer in women.

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