Wondering what the ebrandon world thinks about this.  
 
One of my friends wants to throw me a baby shower before baby is born so I'm more 'prepared' with baby items, but my other friend says no, not until after baby is born. In case there are any problems and something terrible happens like a miscarriage.

I had mine before. I was about 8 months pregnant. It's really what you want. I was a planner and wanted everything ready to go before baby came. And it was nice to have people give useful gifts (tub, stroller, bottles) rather than just clothes because they assume you have everything. We found out we were expecting a boy, so it was nice to have gender specific sleepers, blankets and outfits. And if you have it a month before, it's just in time for the nesting stage

Absolutly after.. What if something happend? My grandma has one before only to have a still born baby. She felt aweful with all the gifts and everything. Not only that but everyone wants to see the baby! It's a good excuse for everyOne to meet the little guy or girl!

I had my baby showers after the birth for a few reasons.  
First reason is that we didn't find out what we were having.  
The second is that some of the people that we invited probably wouldn't have seen the new baby for a while unless we had it after so it was nice to show the baby off to these people all at once instead of having a bunch of random people stopping by your house right after you have had the baby to see him/her.  
And lastly I didn't want everything green and yellow (which was just my preference) We had 2 boys and they both wear pretty boyish tings and if I have a girl she will for sure be completely decked out in pink. Lol  
You can also purchase a few essential items (bath hammock, a few newborn sleepers (we did a few of each gender then returned the others after), bottles, wash clothes, receiving blankets, ect) pretty inexpensively before. I found that unless you specify types of bottles you want and other items like that most people usually liked to get clothes and little toys for the baby instead of those things.  
So those are my reasons why I had the shower afterwards but, if I find out the gender of our next little one I may have my next shower before too  
Good luck

I agree with holybatman.. definitely after.

It is a sad fact that babies do end up still born or pass before birth. I am a firm believer, you don't celebrate until the safe arrival....

I didn't have a baby shower before and so far haven't had one after (and i'm not planning to have one). I would think it is whatever you would prefer. Miscarriage towards the end of the pregnancy is not as common so it shouldn't be a big deal if you want to have one before. It also might make a difference if you know the gender beforehand or not and if you want gender specific or gender neutral baby items. Also as others stated, it can be easier to have everyone come meet the baby all at once at the shower or you may want more one on one visits.  
 
Just some things to think about.

as someone who has only attended baby showers, my vote goes for after. it gives me a chance to see the baby and hold them. some showers i have gone too, i am not terribly close with the mom (more of an acquaintence or closer to the father) so i dont always get a chance to visit with them. its nice to see the baby. it also allows you to buy gender specific items like toys,blankets,clothes,bottles etc. usually the bigger items are planned between the family and the closer friends. or a few friends will go in together to buy the bigger stuff. some may find this tacky but i find it very useful...i like when the person throwing the shower makes a fb page and then they can talk to the parents and see what big items they have already and they can let everyone know. it also allows for us all to write what we are giving so the parents arent bombarded with multiples of the same items. the parents of course are not invited to this page so they cant see what we are typing/saying.  
 
i have never been to a shower where the mother was still pregnant so i dont know how common stillborns and late miscarriages may be but i have been to one shower where the baby was already born and then a cple weeks later died of SIDS so it can go either way i guess and should be whatever the mom/dad prefer. i am also a fan of the jack/jill baby shower, especially when its the first child for both mom and dad. why should he miss out? and it gives the men time to bond with other men while us girls cuddle the baby!! haha.

either way has its benefits so whatever the friend whos throwing you wants to do would/will be wonderful  
 
 
ps if sadly you have a stillborn you will still have stuff you needed to get rid of, having had a shower first won't matter, the pain will be there anyway and as a guest i certainly wouldn't care about the gift i got you, if anything having a few items to treasure from that birth is helpful, take it from some one who unfortunately knows

I vote for definitely before. I had mine after because I had a friend that refused to come if my friends had it before the birth. I ended up having a C section with horrible complications for both me and the baby. The shower was scheduled for 3 weeks after the birth, but less than 2 weeks after we left the hospital. I ended up popping stitches vacuuming and cleaning to get ready for so many people to come over. The baby's immune system was still down and passing the baby around so soon after the birth was not a good idea. He caught bronchitis and the doctor attributed it to having been exposed to too many people and their germs before his immune system was ready for it. Not to mention I spent the entire afternoon in pain and truthfully just wishing people would leave so I could go and lay down. It probably sounds really ungrateful, and they were trying to be thoughtful, but a shower beforehand when I could have enjoyed it and spent time with friends before the birth would have been better. I really remember almost nothing about the shower other than the pain. If it was not for pictures and momentos, I would not even remember who actually came. I know the attendees like to see the baby, and hold the baby, but sometimes that is in neither the best interest of the baby or the mother.

Baby showers were before. It was originally to help the family aquire stuff for the baby that they may not be able to afford. And in a gift card/gift reciept society, there really isn't an issue of gender. People should also try and not forget that baby showers after the baby is born is not always in the baby's best interest. Babies are borm with almost no immune system to speak of and it can take about eight weeks to get the immune system developed enough to be passed from person to person. Also, anyone who has had a newborn baby can tell you the first eight months of sleep deprivation is no picnic. The mom would probably enjoy the shower before more and people visiting for coffee sparadically over the month after the baby's birth much more.

I don't come from Brandon. So when I had my baby shower's it was back home when my family members that I dont usually get to see, can come and see the baby!! In my family as well, we dont start buying things for the baby until the 7 or 8th month. It's just the basics (car seat, few cloths, pampers, wipes, etc.) It's just so we know that everything worked out and we have a safe arrival  

My way of thinking is:  
 
If it's your first baby, you should have a baby shower BEFORE the birth so you have the essentials already.  
 
For subsequent children, you already have everything saved, so you can have the shower before or after, doesn't matter.

My mother was in a similar situation with my sister. Don't fret, your not being rude by admitting the pain. I vote for before, my little sister was crying the whole time from meeting so many people at once and everyone was tried and cranky afterwards, few good memories for my mother.