I'm a labor nurse in Texas, and I deal with a great many Spanish-only patients from Mexico and other points south. When I am asking them about their contractions, I sometimes use the word "contracciones" but find that they almost always say "dolores" or "dolores de abajo," which is "pains down below." I guess if I didn't know what it meant...no, I still wouldn't care for it. And I'm not even that concerned with the HP reference. Sounds old, even if you don't know what it means. Sorry.