I had a homebirth and they asked me to pay attention to bubs kicks during labour because they only listened with the doppler intermittently and obviously a baby in trouble/distress won't move as much. So they listened in every 15-20mins, and asked me if she was moving every 15-20, in between the listening. She kicked and squirmed all the way through, and it was very very handy for me because it was like her saying, in the gaps between contractions (i couldn't feel her kick during them) "Hey mama, i'm ok! You ok?" and it really gave me the peace of knowing she was doing good, and the strength to carry on.

Babies are not passive during labour. When you put a newborn's feet against a hard surface they will push down and "step" - they call it the stepping reflex. During labour, when the uterus contracts the baby pushes with its feet because of the reflex. I read an account once of a woman who'd had 3 kids and then gave birth to her fourth 3 days after he had passed in the womb. He was full term, and had died of a cord accident (his cord was abnormally long, over 150cm). She said labour was very different without the baby being able to do any of the work.

Bx