As a part of your protocol, your doctor has prescribed you a medication which requires you to administer the medication intramuscularly, otherwise known as IM.

The first step is to prepare your medication, which you would have done by watching one of the fertility medication preparation videos. See the full list of medication videos.

How to Perform an Intramuscular Injection: With your partner or support person's assistance

Now that you've prepared your medication, we're going to talk about how to perform an intramuscular injection. First, we'll talk about a partner performing it on the person receiving the medication, and then we'll go through how to do this medication on your own.

First, these medications go into the upper outer quadrant of your glute muscle, of your buttock, so imagine that your glute is divided into four quadrants, like this image shows, and you're aiming for this green area, this upper outer quadrant of your glute muscle. When you come to clinic, a nurse will very happily help you to landmark this area so we can write right on your skin so you know exactly where you're aiming.

And then within that area, you'll sort of try to move around each day so that you're not poking in exactly the same spot every time. When you're having this injection performed on you by a partner, you should be in a position that allows you to have your leg as relaxed as possible, whatever leg this is going into.

So particularly if a partner's doing it for you, maybe you could be laying down on a couch or a bed on your side so that the side they're going to inject is facing up. But you're completely relaxed. Otherwise you can be standing. Have something to lean on, and just make sure that you have this leg as relaxed as possible when you're going to perform the injection.

Once you're ready, you'll take an alcohol swab and clean the area. And then let that dry. And then partners, you'll take the needle cap off. You'll pull the skin taut so it's nice and tight, and you'll go in quick like a dart about two thirds of the way down the needle, and then push in the medication as slowly as you can until it's all been delivered. And once you're done there, you'll pull it out.

A little bit of blood, a little bit of liquid might come out. That's normal. Use a tissue to hold pressure on the area until it stops bleeding, and then give it a little massage. Work it around to help that medication get worked in. Make sure when you're done, you put your used needle safely into a sharps bin or your medical waste bag. When you're performing this needle on yourself, you'll have a little bit different approach.

How to Perform an Intramuscular Injection: On yourself

Now that your intramuscular injection is prepared, we're going to talk about how to perform this injection on yourself without a partner. The area that you're going to be injecting is the upper outer quadrant of your buttock. So imagine that your glute is sort of divided into four quadrants and you're aiming for this upper outer quadrant of your glute muscle.

Your nursing team here at the clinic will happily help you landmark this area, so when you meet with them, they'll be able to draw right on your skin so you know exactly where you should be injecting this medication. Each time that you do it, you'll try to move the injection site a little bit so that you're not poking into exactly the same spot that you did yesterday.

When you're ready, you'll use an alcohol swab to clean the area in preparation for injection.

Now that the area's clean, you're going to set your body up for performing this injection. And the best way to do that when you're on your own is to sort of have a chair or a bench or something nearby that you can sort of get one knee up on the knee that you're going to be performing the injection on so that the weight is kind of taken off of this leg as much as possible.

We want this muscle as loose and relaxed as possible when you're going to perform this injection. Now, usually you're not gonna be able to see the site that you're injecting into, but that's okay. You know where it is. You can use your hand to sort of feel where that injection is going, and when you're ready, again, trying to keep this muscle as relaxed as you can.

You've already cleaned the area. You're gonna take the lid off of your prepared medication, and you're going to inject just like this at 90 degrees. Nice and slowly, about two thirds of the way down the needle into your skin, and then you'll push the plunger as slowly as you can tolerate just like this.

And then when you're done, you'll pull it out. A little bit of blood, a little bit of liquid might come out. That's normal. Use a tissue, hold it on your skin until the bleeding stops. And then make sure that you put your used needle into your sharps bin or your medical waste bag when you're finished with it.