Grampians Health is participating in an international trial looking to see whether giving corticosteroids to the mother before a planned caesarean section reduces the risk of breathing problems for their newborn babies.

Currently, steroids are given to mothers at risk of giving birth prematurely before 35 weeks gestation to help speed up foetal lung development and they have been proven to significantly reduce breathing problems in preterm babies.

"We know that planned caesareans can be risky for babies. Some may need to be admitted to a neonatal unit for breathing support, which means mothers are separated from their baby after birth, which is not ideal for mother or baby," said Grampians Health midwife and clinical trials coordinator Taegen Burnside.

Babies born before labour has started are more likely to have short-term breathing problems compared to babies born by caesarean after labour has started or delivered vaginally.

The new clinical trial looks at babies born through planned caesarean from 35 weeks to 39+6 weeks gestation - late preterm to full term. It is hoped that giving the steroids before delivery will reduce the need for breathing support for babies.

"We want to be able to do everything we can to support both mother and child and give them the best outcomes before, during and after birth," Ms Burnside said.

Grampians Health head of obstetrics and gynaecology Dr Natasha Frawley signed the hospital up to be part of the clinical trial, run by teams at Auckland University, the Liggins Institute and University of Melbourne, saying it was vital for regional mothers and babies to be included.

"It's different for people living in Ballarat, or Horsham, or beyond," Dr Frawley said.

"If a baby needs intubation in Ballarat, it means they will go to Melbourne so for me if they only include Melbourne hospitals in a trial it does not capture the regional outcomes that are important.

"It's very exciting that our obstetrics and gynaecology research team's first clinical trial will provide the first high-quality evidence on the balance between benefit and harm of corticosteroids in this setting and will reliably inform clinical practice for more than one in 10 of all future births in New Zealand and Australia."

Of the 24 hospitals taking part in the trial, Ballarat Base Hospital is eighth in terms of the number of patients involved in to the trial - having recruited more than some of the big Melbourne hospitals.

"Being a smaller hospital we know our patients a bit better ... and we are grateful for patients for considering being part of this," Dr Frawley said.

Across Australia and New Zealand, more than 50,000 babies are born by planned caesarean section each year, and these rates are rising.