Absorbent cores and absorbent articles having anisotropic foam structures

An absorbent core (1) for an absorbent article, the absorbent core comprising at least two layers (2,3), each layer having a width (w) and a length (l) along a first plane and a thickness (t) extending perpendicular thereto, wherein said layers (2,3) are arranged in facing relationship along said first plane, and wherein said layers (2,3) comprise a polymeric foam having an open cell and interconnected porous structure characterized in that the first layer (2) and the second layer (3) comprise an anisotropic cell structure having an axis of anisotropy (4,5) extending substantially parallel to a longest length of a plurality of substantially neighbouring cells (6), in that the axis of anisotropy (5) of the second layer (3) extends substantially perpendicular to said thickness (t) and parallel to said first plane, and in that the axis of anisotropy (4) of the first layer (2) is substantially perpendicular to the axis of anisotropy (5) of the second layer (3).