Zooey Deschanel Says Having a Baby Made Her Grow Up

— -- There's a new girl in Zooey Deschanel's household, which means it's time for the "New Girl" actress to grow up -- sort of.

"I’ve never really felt like an adult," she told Rebook magazine about her life after motherhood. "But I think it’s a huge accomplishment to have a child, so maybe I feel like an adult for that reason!"

Deschanel welcomed daughter Elsie Otter with her husband Jacob Pechenik last August.

Since then, she's taken some time to adjust to motherhood and married life. The actress, 36, got married and gave birth in the same year.

"I’ve slowed things down a bit. I think it’s good for your whole self -- your creative self, your professional self, and just your soul -- to take a little time for yourself and your family," she told Redbook. "You can spend your whole life going after things, but I think you risk missing out on some really powerful self-reflection."

Similarly, Deschanel thinks women shouldn't be expected to bounce back immediately after having a baby.

"To expect someone to look like her pre-baby self immediately is odd," she said. "Because you just grew a human and then birthed that human -- there’s a lot that needs to go back to where it was. All your organs move around, for chrissakes!"

The star also touched on the importance of women supporting each other.

"Growing up, girls get all of these cues that you’re not supposed to be aggressive. You can’t be bossy. If you’re assertive, you’re b----y," she said. "There are a lot of negative things that are said about women who are powerful, and I think that it makes for a climate where women end up being inadvertently passive-aggressive toward one another, and sometimes trying to pull each other down."