"Congratulations on your new baby."

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Giving birth used to be a difficult task where many women died. Thus, giving birth was a victory for women so they were congratulated. Compound that with the overall social effect of a woman with a glowing affect who has her baby in her arms.

Because they're happy for the parents involved, why else would you say congratulations?? Isn't having a baby supposed to be a positive thing, I know I'd congratulate someone on their little unborn son/daughter.
It seems a bit obvious, I mean come on.

Unless you're living inside The Handmaid's Tale, I have no idea.

That said, to parody that stupid tradition, I do like to congratulate people when they get cool new gadgets

CONGRATULATIONS! Your boyfriend's condom broke and you forgot to take your pill for 2 nights that week isn't he adorable?

I always say that pregnancy happens when the man is too stupid enough to wear a condom and then forgets to pull out, thus making pregnancies a mistake.

Not all of them. Many are infact planned believe it or not

y'all so miserable and rude. the creation of life is a joyous occasion & blah blah blah. it's not congratulations at managing to get pregnant (unless you know they've been trying)

If i get pregnant Im not telling you guys

I think the implication is that a pregnancy within a marriage is planned/desired or at least something the pregnant person is equiped to deal with. whilst with the unmarried person it's assumed that it was unplanned, unwanted and initially the cause of a huge dilemma for the woman. leaving the news receiver unsure at whether congratulations are in order or would be welcomed.

I have a friend who started trying to have a baby at the same time my husband and I did. When my daughter was 10, my friend finally conceived. Imagine wanting something for a decade and doing anything you could to get, all the while being constantly reminded of your inability to attain it. Then one day, your dreams come true. That is worthy of congratulations, whether you like children or not.

I admit I don't care for disrespectful, obnoxious children (present company excluded, of course). I am currently in a room with three children and the loudest thing is the sound of my fingers hitting the keyboard. They're not sleeping or drugged, just your typical gifted/ AS/ ASD kids (respectively).

Like my ex mate who has been made redundant, his wife hasn't worked in years, they have 2 kids under 5 and a 3rd on the way and they live in a 2 bedroomed house. Move? UK is in financial trouble and he hasn't got the £9000 to put down as a deposit on a new house. To cover his family, he is going to have to work as many hours as possible and they will grow up wondering where daddy is. Plus, in this day and age, he lives like he rearing a family in the 1960s - hand me downs and no life whatsoever.

That will teach him. He should never have tried to ruin me. Karma is a biatch!

You're making the mistaken assumption that not thinking it is something to congratulate is the same as not thinking it's a big deal. For me, at least, it is an issue of semantics. Congratulations are given for achievements, things which had to be worked for and accomplished. Something which comes naturally does not fit this description. I've always though that the congratulations to a parent ought be offered once the child has grown up into a good person (or whatever character traits you find to be worthy of congratulations--to each his own on this one).

Nor does thinking that it's not something to congratulate mean that you hate babies/children. There seem to be a lot of faulty leaps of logic flying about here.

I actually like kids enough to have considered adoption, but then I thought about the kids I could never afford to adopt and decided people need to stop the madness. You there with your unplanned pregnancy, seriously? God invented condoms and birth control pills for a reason. Use them. And you there in the corner with your semi-narcissistic streak. Wanting to have a kid so you can indirectly receive the attention that a lot of people have been conditioned to give to your baby? Yeah, you should also consider doing the pill thing.

I don't know why people say it. I say it when I feel like it.

I have wanted to adopt when I was in my teens because I didn't like the idea of getting pregnant and then having my body change and it stays that way for life or having to work out to get my normal weight back. But then I saw how expensive adoption is and my husband and I don't make a lot so we are forced to make our own and he wants one of his own anyway, he doesn't want to adopt. He won't see it as his own child is why.

I do think people are stupid for not using birth control. Even if they use do them, sometimes they fail and the woman gets pregnant but it's rare. I also think men are jerks for not wanting to have anything to do with their babies so the woman is stuck with it. I mean if they don't want to have kids, use a condom, if they don't want to take the risks of it failing, don't have sex. The guy be lucky if the girl didn't want the baby either so she puts it up for an adoption or has an abortion. The man isn't a jerk then.

Some people have kids for a stupid reason; they think having a baby will save their relationship and make things better.

And there are even women out there that fake their pregnancy because they want to keep their partner but when their fake due date comes, they actually snatch someone's baby or cut out a baby from a mother's stomach and pass it off as their own. They also do it because they are desperate for a baby. Some do it thinking their partner will stay with them or come back if they had a baby. I heard this has became more common over the years and it scares me. I hope I never become a victim and my baby.

Pulling out is NOT going to prevent anything, even pre-ejaculate is known to contain semen!

I would adopt kids if my wife would agree to so when I'm married. Like I said earlier, I don't want my kids going through what I went through and I don't want my aspie genes(or how Tony Soprano said it, my devil genes) going around.

It's just an expression of good fortune. Having a baby is seen as a good thing. It's just what you are supposed to / expected to say when someone announces a pregnancy. It makes sense to me, regardless of how I view having children. Congratulations doesn't necessarily mean "accomplishment."

I intellectually understand that this is how the word is used, but I get hung up on whether or not this is the best way of expressing the intended sentiment. Semantics is the only thing I ever argue.