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One of the things that makes most women very apprehensive about fertility care is the administration of medications to themselves. Medications that are given orally are easy. Medications that are given by injection often cause fear not only in the woman, but in her partner, who is often asked to do the injections.

Fertility medications are often injected under the skin, and some of instruments used for injecting those medications include specialized pens that are created by the manufacturer. These are very simple, because all the woman has to do is dial into the pen her dose of medication, and then the injection needle is placed under the skin, usually in the abdomen, and injected right under the skin.

These needles are very short. They're often the same needles that are used by diabetics to give themselves their daily injections. The needles barely penetrate the skin. They go into the skin just into the fat tissue right below it. They don't go into muscle. They don't go into blood vessels, and they're generally very easily administered. The first injection always causes the most apprehension, but it's typical for a woman to tell me after just a few injections that she's a pro at this.

There are certain injections that have to be given intramuscularly. Some women find that very difficult. In those cases, they can be trained to give it in their thigh, or they have their partner give it to them in their buttock. That's the most common place to give an intramuscular injection. The needle is used to draw the medication up into the syringe, and the injection is given right into the upper outer quadrant of the buttock into the muscle. Those are a little bit more uncomfortable than the subcutaneous injections that are generally very well-tolerated.

Some medications also come pre-mixed, and some require mixing. Some vials have a powder in it, which is the active hormone, and that is mixed with saline solution or some other diluent to create a solution, and that's drawn up into the syringe and injected.

Fertility centers will give very specific written instructions on how to give the medications. In addition, there are numerous YouTube videos that also instruct women on how to do the injections. They're not difficult to do. They should not cause great apprehension, and they're generally very well-tolerated.

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