Brooke Smitherman gave birth to her son, Brody, on Jan. 28, 2010 with the help of her mom and her husband, Cody Tarrant, and an audience of MTV cameras and crew, filming the birth for the third season opener of MTV’s original series, “16 and Pregnant.”

The senior’s pregnancy came as a surprise because she was taking birth control at the time. When her mother learned of the pregnancy, Brooke Smitherman asked her to e-mail MTV and explain the situation. The television station chose to film Smitherman’s story to show teenagers contraceptive provisions do not always work.

“I was shocked because I thought I had taken good precautionary measures to make sure I wouldn’t get pregnant,” Smitherman said. “I guess I was wrong.”

Smitherman’s pregnancy caused her to abandon her favorite hobby in life: racing.

“I started racing on the dirt tracks when I was seven but, sadly, I had to quit when I had Brody,” Smitherman said.

Much like the encouragement she had while racing, during her pregnancy, Smitherman had the support of her mother, father, husband and other family members. Her parents, who had her when they were 18, taught her what she needed to know to better raise her child.

“My parents were very encouraging throughout my pregnancy. They never gave up on me and they taught me to work hard for what I wanted in life,” she said.

According to Smitherman, her husband has played a key role in her life since they began dating during her freshman year, and supported her decisions throughout her pregnancy, pushing her to stay in school and get good grades.

“Cody gave me the support I needed to continue through school and graduate on time,” Smitherman said.

Smitherman continued to care for her son and anxiously awaited the premier of her featured episode on “16 and Pregnant” which aired on MTV at 9 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2010.

“We really want our viewers to know that they should wait to have sex unless they are ready to take on the stresses of parenthood,” Smitherman said.