In the United States, depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) is given to women after delivery and before hospital discharge with the belief that women who delay starting DMPA may be more likely to become pregnant when they are not yet ready to be pregnant and that giving DMPA before discharge has little to no negative effect on breastfeeding. Administering DMPA to breastfeeding women has not been widely questioned because the limited existing studies do not show any adverse impact of DMPA on breastfeeding. However, these studies used inappropriate control groups and did not control for prior lactation experience.