Hilary Swank Gets Candid About Her Breastfeeding Struggles (Exclusive)

Now that Hilary Swank has made it through the first year of parenthood, she’s opening up about some of the struggles she went through postpartum.

Speaking with PEOPLE about her role as Chief Innovation Officer for HealthyBaby, the actress, 50, also shared new details about welcoming her twins Aya and Ohm in April 2023, whom she shares with husband Philip Schneider.

Touching on the first few months after giving birth, Swank shares that for her, breastfeeding was almost not an option.

“I never had a singleton, so I’ve only known two, but I was trying to breastfeed and trying to breastfeed two at the same time was impossible for me,” Swank remembers of tandem feeding.

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“I feel really, really blessed that I was able to actually breastfeed at all. That doesn’t always work out like that,” she continues. “We [didn’t] know if that’s going to be a possibility. And I really wanted to be able to do that personally.”

Swank says that navigating being a mom to two newborns at once and the exhaustion that comes with that was difficult, and she placed her babies’ health and wellbeing first.

“You don’t put yourself first as a mom. You have these new people and they take your priority,” Swank tells PEOPLE. “When you come out of it, it’s a lot. You’ve never done it before. There’s no blueprint for it. You’re running on empty and you’re trying to trust your instincts, and it’s hard to do that when you’re exhausted.”

The star gives a lot of credit to her village, saying that she’s able to rely on many people in her life as she balances motherhood with her career.

“It 100% takes a village, and I feel so blessed to have a wonderful village,” Swank shares. “I have so much awe [for single parents] and kudos to them. I’m absolutely impressed by the ability to do that.”

“That is really something, because my husband and I are both very, very hands-on and equal partners in our parenting. I feel really blessed to have that.”

Swank says that her mom has also been “so present” in her twins’ life, noting that she’s been able to stay with her for weeks, and adds that her friends have also been supportive.

“But I really feel like we have lost a little bit of our village-ness. We used to be very tribal, and I feel like it does take a tribe to come together for not only the health of the babies, but for the mother,” Swank says. “And I don’t feel like there’s enough emphasis that goes onto maternal care postpartum.”

“It’s like you have the baby and everyone just focuses on the baby, and I feel like mothers kind of get lost. So when you have a tribe, everyone can rely on each other, and that’s a beautiful thing. And I do have a wonderful tribe around me.”