A personal care absorbent article having a fluid intake/distribution layer, a fluid transfer delay layer disposed beneath said fluid intake/distribution layer, said fluid transfer delay layer enabling the transfer of fluid from the fluid intake/distribution layer(s) to a pad layer disposed beneath the fluid transfer delay layer while still allowing fluid distribution by the fluid intake/distribution layer along the machine direction of the article resulting in saturation levels of less than or equal to about 0.86 g/g/in of fluid in the intake/distribution layer(s) and/or essentially equal to or greater than 0.06 g/g/in. of fluid in the pad layer.