Christian Pettker, MD

In addition to his role as professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services, Dr. Pettker is Chief of Obstetrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital and oversees Yale’s comprehensive obstetric patient safety program. The program aims to improve patient care by standardizing treatment methods and encouraging communication and collaboration between physicians and departments.

“A safety and teamwork culture is not something you can just implement, then walk away from and expect to continue,” Dr. Pettker says. “The really hard thing is the daily work you need to do to keep it going.”

After graduating magna cum laude from Princeton University in 1995, Dr. Pettker taught at Eton College in England on an Annenberg Fellowship. He received his MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed his Ob/Gyn residency at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Pettker then completed a three-year fellowship at Yale in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and joined the faculty. He was promoted to Professor in 2020.

Dr. Pettker primarily treats high-risk pregnancies. He notes that maternal-fetal medicine is the only branch of medicine where doctors much consider the needs of two patients at one time. “Something I do for a fetus may put the mother at risk, or something I do for the mother may put the fetus at risk,” he explains. “It’s intellectually challenging to balance the two, and it’s emotionally satisfying to help the family through a difficult time.”

Dr. Pettker also works across the Yale New Haven Health system on quality improvement and patient safety as the Chief Patient Safety Officer and Associate Chief Quality Officer.

Dr. Pettker is the recipient of the 2018 Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2013 Nathan Kase Faculty Teaching Award with the department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, and the 2011 National Faculty Award sponsored by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is a member of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (where he serves on the Board of Directors), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.