Evaluation of the usefulness of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in a context with increased resistance of Plasmodium falciparum in Kingasani Hospital, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo

•Malaria is common at delivery in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, and may play an important role in the presence of anemia and fever during pregnancy;•The expected effects of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp-SP) uptake are compromised in terms of malaria clearance at delivery and reduced occurrence of fever in pregnancy or fetal deaths;•In contrast, prophylactic effects of IPTp-SP in terms of reduced occurrence of maternal anemia, shortened gestation, or low-birth weights are still noted namely at increased doses uptake;•Plasmodium falciparum parasites encoding dhfr-dhps mutations are widely spread in the study population.•Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine failed to clear malaria parasites but kept protecting against adverse outcomes in pregnancy in DRC.