Articles comprising absorbent foams made from high internal phase emulsions useful for acquiring and distributing aqueous fluids

An absorbent article especially suitable for absorbing and retaining aqueous body fluids, said article comprising:

• I) a backing sheet;
• and
• II) an absorbent core associated with said backing sheet such that said absorbent core is positioned between said backing sheet and the fluid discharge region of the wearer of the article, said absorbent core comprising a polymeric foam material which is capable of acquiring and distributing aqueous fluids, said polymeric foam material comprising a hydrophilic, flexible, nonionic polymeric foam structure of interconnected open cells, which foam structure has:
• A) the ability to vertically wick synthetic urine to a height of 5 cm in less than about 120 seconds:
• B) a capillary absorption pressure of from about 5 to about 25 cm;
• C) a capillary desorption pressure of from about 8 to about 40 cm;
• D) a resistance to compression deflection of from about 5 to about 85% when measured under a confining pressure of 0.74 psi;
• E) a free absorbent capacity of from about 12 to about 125 g/g;
• and
• F) a recovery from wet compression of at least about 60%.