America Ferrera Opened Up About Kerry Washington Helping Her With Postpartum Return to Work

America Ferrera is giving one of her best girlfriends a huge thank you. In a new interview with People, Ferrera shouted out fellow actress Kerry Washington, who she says helped her through navigating the complicated world of heading back to work after having a baby. Ferrera, who starred in last year's blockbuster hit Barbie, shares a 5-year-old son named Sebastian and a 3-year-old daughter named Lucia Marisol with her husband, Ryan Piers Williams. During her chat, Ferrera explained that she went back to work on the set of her NBC comedy Superstore just months after Sebastian arrived.

"When I first had my first child, my son, I went back to shoot on Superstore when he was 10 weeks old,” Ferrera started. She went on to say that Washington was a huge source of support, since she also had children while working on her show. So, Ferrera leaned on her for advice — and Washington was happy to help. 

“I was so lucky to have Kerry Washington as a friend, who had two of her babies while she was on Scandal. I remember asking her, 'How do you do it? How are you on a TV show and have a newborn baby? What am I going to do?'" Ferrera continued. "And she gave me the most detailed instructions of every single thing that I was going to do to make my life easier, down to the exact Pack ‘n Play for my trailer.”

Washington's advice included everything and anything Ferrera needed — and more. Ferrera explained that the actress behind Olivia Pope was candid about sharing even the tiniest details, including “her pumping and breastfeeding schedule on set and exactly what bra she bought to get for wardrobe. And it was like she just saved me."

“I think all the time about how many tears and how much energy and how much money and how much trial and error she saved me by just telling me what she learned having done the same thing in the same position. And countless times, just in the almost six years that I've been a mom, it's other moms and other women who have saved me and kept me going and kept me feeling like I can do this," Ferrera finished.

She also spoke about her husband and how he supports her both at home with their children and professionally. Plus, she adds, the sentiment goes both ways.

“He is incredibly present and hands-on as a father, but he also just really cares about my dreams,” she noted. “He really wants me to be what I want to be in the world. And so he thinks of my dreams as his own. I think of his dreams as my responsibility, too.”