North Carolina Maternal Health MATTERS (Making Access to Treatment, Evaluation, Resources, and Screening Better) is North Carolina's Perinatal Psychiatry Access Program. The vision is for all perinatal patients in the state to have access to timely and high-quality mental health care and substance use treatment services. 

NC Matters maintains a consultation line that operates Monday-Friday 8 AM to 5 PM. Behavioral health coordinators are available to provide consultations to providers, share resources and referral services, or provide a one-time psychiatry assessment for patients. If requested, a perinatal psychiatry provider can call back within 30 minutes (or at a scheduled time). This is a consultation service and not a treatment program. Behavioral health coordinators can help patients find other desired community resources. 

NC MATTERS was created to support healthcare professionals with identifying and managing their perinatal patients' behavioral health in environments where appropriate services are scarce. By offering real-time services and training opportunities to healthcare professionals across the state, NC MATTERS works to reduce health disparities and increase healthy birth outcomes. 

NC MATTERS was established with funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) with the goal of enhancing systems for screening, assessment, and treatment of depression, substance use, and other behavioral health disorders in pregnant and postpartum patients. Programing is sustained through continued funding from HRSA and NC Department of Health and Human Services.