I'm neither a doctor nor do I play one on TV. But my feeling is Kalen is mostly wrong, but slightly right.
We were advised that age of the mother isn't really all that significant a contributor to birth defects in general, which can occur many other reasons (all more important than age). The main risk that goes up with age is Down's Syndrome. And this, from the March of Dimes, on that issue:
Are women over age 35 at increased risk of having a baby with a birth defect?
Women over age 35 are at increased risk of having a child with certain birth defects involving chromosomes (the structures in cells that contain genes). Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal birth defect. Affected children have varying degrees of mental retardation and physical birth defects.
At age 25, a woman has about a 1-in-1,250 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome.
At age 30, a 1-in-1,000 chance.
At age 35, a 1-in-400 chance.
At age 40, a 1-in-100 chance.
At 45, a 1-in-30 chance.
At 49, a 1-in-10 chance (1, 4).
So the risks do go up, but the chances for NOT having that remain strong all the way through age 49.
My wife was 32, 35, and 43 when she gave birth to our three. All are quite healthy.
Annika should be just fine, if this is the path she chooses.
Selfishly I'd prefer she go the Juli Inkster route also. But like Phil says, that's not for everyone.
TH