ABSORBENT ARTICLE HAVING AN UMBILICAL PROTECTION FEATURE AND AN ABBREVIATED ABSORBENT STRUCTURE

A distinctive absorbent article comprises a substantially liquidimpermeable outer cover member having a length and a width. The outer cover provides a rear waistband portion and a front waistband portion, and has a layer of polymer film material on an outer surface of the front waistband portion of the outer cover. A liquid permeable topsheet layer is provided for contacting a wearer's skin, and an absorbent body is interposed between the outer cover and the topsheet layer. The absorbent body has a length and width which are smaller than the outer cover length and width, thereby providing end margins and side margins of the outer cover. An adhesive fastening mechanism adheres to the film layer to secure the front and rear waistband portions of the outer cover about the wearer. An elastic member is connected to provide elasticized gathers along a cross-direction of the rear waistband portion of the outer cover. An outermost layer of substantially nonwettable, resilient material is connected to overlie the polymer film of the outer cover along the front waistband portion of the outer cover, thereby sandwiching the polymer film between the topsheet layer and the outermost layer of resilient material. The outermost resilient material has a lengthwise extent which is less than the length of the outer cover.