From raising five sons to caring for newborns, ‘Tita Miles’ finds her calling

By Elton Lugay

Before the feedings, the overnight shifts and the first-time parents looking for reassurance, Milagros dela Cruz Llamas begins with a simple belief: newborn care is not just about caring for a baby. It is also about helping a family find its footing.

For more than two decades, Dela Cruz Llamas has worked as a newborn-care specialist (aka baby nurse) in New York, guiding parents through the demanding first weeks of a child’s life. She has become known in the Filipino American community as “Tita Miles,” a mother of five sons and who has patiently cared for hundreds of babies.

Tita Miles was born and raised in Manila and was an only child, she tells The FilAm in an interview. Her father died when she was 8 months old, and her mother, whom she calls Nanay, did not remarry.

By age 6, she was helping her mother sell sweepstakes tickets before she began school. She later became a licensed medical technologist and hoped to continue her education to become a physician.

Marriage and the responsibility of raising five sons altered the direction of that path.

“I wanted to continue studying to be a doctor, which was my ultimate dream,” she said. “But since I got married and had my five boys, I did not fulfill my dream of being a doctor.”

As a single mother, Tita Miles built a business in the Philippines while raising her children. She opened Magnolia House and a fast-food restaurant on Buendia Avenue in Pasay, followed by a 24-hour restaurant on Roxas Boulevard near the site where the Cuneta Astrodome now stands.

In 1985, she opened another restaurant at the Dampa Seafood Restaurant Complex near Manila’s international airport. She ran the business for nearly 20 years before moving to the United States in 2005, leaving its management to one of her sons and a daughter-in-law.

Tita Miles came to New York seeking new opportunities. Her eldest son, Lloyd, now 45, joined her in the United States, and she later brought her youngest son, Temi, now 33, to live with her.

Lloyd currently works with Homeland Security and has been in law enforcement for more than 10 years. Youngest son Artemio John or Temi is a Supervisor, Patient Coordinator for Weill Cornell Medical Group in Lower Manhattan. He is also a concert artist and a member of the TOFA Singers.

There are three more sons in between. They are all married and living in Manila. Kirk, the second son, is 43 years old working as a corporate executive for Filinvest Hospitality where he oversees commercial business and hotel management. Third son Rolan, or JR, 41, is the Senior Operations Manager of IBEX Global Solutions Inc. in Bohol. Artemio Gabriel, or Arby, the fourth son, is 35 years old and works as a data analyst. He has a Nursing degree. He and his wife are expecting a baby boy in November.

Her entry into newborn care came through a nursing contact of her eldest son. She attended a two-day seminar for baby nurses and newborn-care specialists, completed CPR certification and soon began taking assignments.

The work requires more than affection for babies. Newborn-care specialists work long shifts, including overnight or 24-hour schedules, while helping families establish feeding, sleep and safety routines. For Tita Miles, the role draws on her experience as a mother and business owner. She teaches new parents how to care for their infants while offering the calm presence that can be crucial during an exhausting and uncertain period.

“Being a baby nurse and newborn specialist takes skills, caring for fragile newborn babies, especially for 24 long hours of duty,” she said.

The job has also taken her beyond New York, including trips with families to France, Italy, St. Barts, the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, and Cancun.

Among her most memorable assignments was caring for the child of a Fox News correspondentduring the COVID-19 pandemic. Tita Miles also recalls a yearlong assignment with a celebrity family, an experience that combined demanding newborn-care work with frequent travels. Yet her focus remains the same whether she is working in a regular home environment or traveling with a famous family: caring for a newborn and helping first-time parents feel more confident.

For a woman who once imagined becoming a doctor, Tita Miles sees her life in care work as a different fulfillment of the same calling.

“They live in my thoughts, in my prayers, in the little pauses between breaths,” she said, describing the tenderness she brings to the children whether they are hers or those of other people.