Sally Field revealed in a candid new interview that becoming a mom at a young age essentially saved her life.

Having my first son, Peter ... first of all, I wasnt alone anymore, the actor said on a Wednesday episode of Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast, Wiser Than Me .

I was so young. I was just 23, Field said of giving birth to her first child in 1969.

There was something in me that felt so fiercely about him that I felt If I can take care of him, I can take care of myself. And goddamn it, Im going to take care of him. I dont care if I go down, she said. It started to connect with a fierceness in me that I didnt recognize.