Hi Kim,
What a clever/sensitive baby! but probably many babies send signs that their mums do not perceive because they may not be so regular as these pre-contraction kicks. I believe that the better a mother to be has prepared during pregnancy with breathing and sound practices, with regular experience of relaxation together with her baby, the more common responses like this could get reported. During pregnancy yoga classes we need to encourage women more and more to approach their births in partnership with their babies, as a real team. Then the true synchronicity that your friend comments on becomes possible, the baby feels supported and also respected in his or her own rhythms during this very individual journey into the world that he or she handles in a unique style, partly determined by anatomy and physiology but also partly by the quality of the foetal environment and of loving communication. Thank you so much for sharing your friend's experience and please convey to her how her awareness is inspiring to us all.
Francoise.