Introduction:

Due to congenital infection, children with microcephaly have great limitations due to this condition. These limitations make the child need more health and home care. Generally, the mother becomes the main caretaker for this child, this role can lead to overload feelings that affect their quality of life.

Objective:

To analyze the role overload and the quality of life of mothers or primary caregiver of children with microcephaly related to congenital infection.

Method:

Cross-sectional, correlational study carried out with 105 participants from the state of Sergipe, Brazil, during the period from October 2017 to April 2018, through the application of questionnaires: sociodemographic, WHOQOL-Bref, and caregiver burden. For statistical analysis, ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson (r) tests were used.

Results:

All of the participants were females, 39 % were classified with severe role overload and 30.5% with intense role overload. The total average of this caregiver burden (49.47) presents a moderate to severe classification. There was a strong correlation (p<0.0001) between the levels of their role overload and the domains of their quality of life, where the greatest damage was in the environmental (36.57) and physical (38.53) aspects. A significant and inversely proportional correlation (r=-0.547, p<0.0001) was observed between the quality of life and the caregiver burden.

Conclusion:

Mothers suffer severe and intense caregiver overload that has a negative influence on their quality of life. Nursing can contribute to the creation and implementation of specific lines of care for these women emphasizing the promotion of physical and mental health to improve their quality of life.