Drew Barrymore is convinced working mothers can't "have it all" after choosing to step away from her budding filmmaking career to focus on bringing up her baby daughter.

The Charlie's Angels star, 38, has been busy promoting her new Flower make-up range and Barrymore wine collection since giving birth to little Olive last September (12), but she insists juggling her various projects with parenthood has been difficult - and she's had to make tough decisions about what she wants from her career as an actress, director and businesswoman.

Speaking at Lucky Magazine's Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on Thursday (04Apr13), she told attendees, "You know that you're going to miss out on your child's upbringing or you realise that your relationship is going to suffer if you work night and day and weekends.

"Unfortunately, I was raised in this like generation of like, 'Women can have it all,' and I don't think you can. I think some things fall off the table. The good news is, what does stay on the table becomes much more important.

"You've got to choose your battles, definitely. I would miss out on my daughter (if I continued to direct films). I can't do it... It was heartbreaking to let go, but it was a clear choice. As my daughter gets older, I'll slowly get back into it. I'm never not going to be who I am. I'll never abandon ship completely. Life does take different turns and it's really wild."

However, Barrymore, who made her directing debut with 2009's Whip It, is adamant she has no regrets about taking a step back from Hollywood.

She adds to UsMagazine.com, "Things have to go and that's unfortunate. There's sometimes things you've invested a lot of time into or cared so much about, and you get to the precipice and you're like, 'I can't do it,' because I won't do everything else well or I will miss out on this or I need to be over here now... I think it's a lot about sacrifice.

"I know it seems like I do everything, but there's so much I had to give up. And I'm glad I did. I still think about it all the time, but you start to really get instinctual about the right thing to do."