Trigger Shot Before Embryo Transfer: What to Know

A trigger injection commonly contains a medicine that acts like luteinising hormone. In a cycle using ovulation, it can help the team estimate when an egg is released and schedule transfer in relation to that window. In other protocols, the transfer is planned with hormone medicines and the trigger may not be part of the cycle.

Embryo transfer is one stage of IVF. The clinic also considers embryo development, the lining of the uterus, progesterone exposure and other cycle details. A trigger shot is not a substitute for the rest of the prescribed plan.

Use the exact dose and time written by your clinic. Record when the injection was given and contact the team promptly if it was late, missed, spilled or stored incorrectly. Keep taking other medicines, including progesterone, unless the clinic changes the instructions.

Mild tenderness at the injection site or temporary bloating can occur. Do not add ovulation medicines, painkillers or supplements without checking, because the clinic needs an accurate record of everything used during the cycle.

Contact your fertility clinic urgently for severe pelvic pain, rapidly increasing abdominal swelling, repeated vomiting, breathing difficulty, faintness or reduced urine. These symptoms need assessment after fertility medicines. Contact the clinic for any unexpected bleeding or if you are unsure whether the injection was administered correctly.

Ask what the injection is intended to do in your protocol, the precise administration time, how transfer timing is calculated, whether progesterone starts before or after it, and which symptoms need same-day advice.