Nicole Richie contends her recent drinking and driving conviction has changed her life and made her a better person.

Nicole and her boyfriend, “Good Charlotte” singer Joel Madden, sat down with Diane Sawyer to talk about how she’s changed since she was charged with DUI last December.

And while you’d think being sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to drunk driving would teach the young starlet a lesson, it seems as though her unborn baby is more the reason for her new perspective on life.

Nicole revealed in the exclusive interview that she was four months pregnant with Joel’s baby.

“I owe the baby my life,” she told Diane. “I owe this baby everything and I have a responsibility now. I'm now responsible for someone else. I need to set the right example.”

When asked about the night she was arrested, Nicole responded with the following statement:

“When I was getting off the off ramp, instead of making a left to get on the street, I went back on the off ramp,” she said.

“And I was in such shock that I just stopped the car. Then, within two seconds, police were there and we got off the freeway.”

Richie told Diane that she had been smoking marijuana and had taken Vicodin (a prescription pain killer), earlier in the day.

The 25-year-old star insists she was unaware of the potential adverse effects of driving after smoking marijuana and taking prescription medicines.

Shockingly, Nicole was poised and well-spoken for most of the interview.

It seems as though pregnancy is helping Nicole grow as a person.

Hopefully, she and Joel possess better parenting skills than Brit and Kevin.