Jess Brownsberger intended to vaccinate her baby, just like her parents had done with her.

Then the Tennessee mother saw how her daughter — who was born with a heart defect — experienced body rashes following some newborn shots. A rash can be a normal reaction to vaccines, but it spooked Brownsberger given her daughter’s medical diagnosis, which would later require open heart surgery.

Brownsberger, a self-proclaimed “MAHA mom” who tries to avoid toxins in her food and products, told her pediatrician she no longer wanted shots. Her doctor, according to Brownsberger, warned that she would need to seek care elsewhere if she chose not to vaccinate. Brownsberger viewed it as an ultimatum and found someone who was willing to delay vaccinations.

Five years later and now with three children, the 30-year-old Brownsberger chooses not to vaccinate any of her kids. She visits a nurse practitioner who she calls “vaccine friendly” — terminology used interchangeably in some online spaces with “vaccine neutral” to describe medical professionals who will care for children irrespective of parents’ vaccine views. Brownsberger found her on a site that advertises alternative medicine and maintains a list of preferred practices by state.