DMPA (Depo-Provera)
DMPA is a shot that keeps you from getting pregnant for three months. The shot consists of progestin, a hormone that keeps the woman’s eggs from being released from her ovaries. Progestin also thickens the mucus at the cervix, so the man’s sperm cannot get inside.
How effective is DMPA? DMPA is very good at keeping women from getting pregnant. Only about 3 out of 1000 women who use the shot for a year get pregnant.
How is DMPA given? The first shot should be given during the first 5 days after your period starts. The shot is given in the buttocks or the arm. You may have some soreness where the shot was given.
How long does it work? If it is given by the fifth day of your period, DMPA starts to work right away. It keeps working for at least 12 weeks. The shot slowly wears off over that time. If you want to keep using DMPA as your birth control method, you must go back to the clinic every 12 weeks for another shot.
What is needed to start: Students must bring in results of their last Pap smear (done within the last year) or have one performed at the SHS. A history will be taken and consent completed before an appointment is made for the first shot. Each DMPA injection, given every 12 weeks, costs $45.00.*
- What do some women like about using DMPA?
It works well to prevent pregnancy
It lasts 12 weeks at a time
There are no pills to take every day
There is nothing to do right before sex to make it work
No one can tell if you are using it - What do some women dislike about it?
It causes changes in your period
You may have other side effects that won’t go away until the shot wears off
You have to go to the clinic every 12 weeks to get another shot
It may take as long as 18 months to get pregnant after you stop using it - What are the side effects of DMPA?
All women who use DMPA have a change in their menstrual bleeding
You may not know when you will have your period
You may have spotting between periods
You may have longer or shorter periods
Many women have a weight gain of about 4 pounds per year
Some side effects may not go away until the shot wears off.
That may take 3 or 4 months after your last shot - Are there any problems with using DMPA?
The average woman takes ten months to become pregnant after she stops using DMPA. Some women become pregnant as early as 3 to 4 months after the last shot, while others can take as long as eighteen months.
Women who use DMPA for a long time may lose a small amount of calcium in their bones. Most of the calcium comes back as soon as you stop using DMPA. This may be considered a risk factor for the development of osteoporosis.
Women who breast feed can use DMPA starting 6 weeks after childbirth. No harmful effects have been seen in breast fed children whose mothers used the shot.
People have worried that using DMPA could cause cancer of the breast, ovary, or cervix, however, research has indicated no increase in risk of these tumors. In fact, the incidence of endometrial cancer is reduced in DMPA users for as long as 8 years after stopping the shot.
DMPA is not right for every woman. Women with breast cancer, blood clots, liver disease, unexplained vaginal bleeding, a history of stroke, or who think they might be pregnant, should not use DMPA.
*Price subject to change
If you have any problems, talk to your clinician. There may be something that can be done to help. You may have to wait until the shot wears off to feel better. You may need to choose another kind of birth control.
Additional information is available at www.depo-provera.com
Updated 02/06 ck Resource: Upjohn Pharmaceuticals