BANGOR — A Farmingdale couple was awarded $1.07 million Wednesday after a jury found Kennebec Valley Medical Center in Augusta guilty of violating federal law in its handling of the wife’s high-risk pregnancy.

Julia and Wayne Barrett filed suit against KVMC under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which was passed to prevent hospitals from “dumping” patients who don’t have insurance. The law also applies to people like the Barretts, who have adequate health coverage.

“This is the first case (brought under the act) to be tried in a court in Maine,” said Daniel W. Bates, a Portland attorney who represented the Barretts. “It’s one of a very few (EMTLA) cases tried in New England.”

The case has important ramifications for other Maine hospitals, according to Bates. The act spells out strict requirements for hospitals that provide emergency care to patients.

“I think there are a lot of hospitals out there that need to bring their policies up to speed,” said Bates.

On Wednesday, a jury at U.S. District Court in Bangor found KVMC failed to meet its obligations under the act. The legal issue of whether the hospital was negligent in caring for Julia Barrett and her unborn son, Parker, was not addressed.

Bates said Julia Barrett was 30 weeks pregnant on Jan. 26, 1992, when she called KVMC to say her water had broken and she was bleeding. She was not expected to deliver until April 2.

Julia Barrett was told to go to the hospital, and she arrived at about 5:50 a.m. According to the suit, the woman showed signs of placental abruption — the tearing of the placenta away from the wall of the uterus. The condition can be life-threatening for mother and child, according to Bates.

“It became an emergency situation,” he said. “There was lots of bleeding and the fetal heart rate was alarmingly low.”

Maine Medical Center in Portland advised KVMC to deliver the child by Caesarean section if there were signs of fetal distress, the suit claimed, but the Augusta hospital ordered that Julia Barrett be transported by ambulance to Portland.

Parker Barrett, the baby, suffered injuries during labor — including oxygen deprivation — that would have been avoided if the condition of mother and child were stabilized at KVMC, according to the lawsuit. The child died Jan. 27, 1992.

The suit claimed KVMC had violated provisions of the emergency treatment act that required the hospital, among other things, to stabilize the patients, to evaluate whether the benefits of their transfer outweighed the risks, and to ensure that MMC was willing to accept them.

The jury agreed with the Barretts, awarding them a total of $1.07 million for pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, emotional distress and loss of consortium.

KVMC referred questions about the judgement to Portland attorney Christopher Nyhan, who could not be reached for comment.