A unit for making absorbent pads for nappies including a forming drum by which the absorbent pad is formed and in turn including on its peripheral surface one or more suction recesses; at least one hood for feeding the absorbent material and peripherally facing at least part of the peripheral surface of the drum; and a duct which leads to the hood and which can intermittently feed predetermined charges of a superabsorbent material; the feeding duct is configured in such a way that the flow of superabsorbent material fed into the hood expands until reaching an extent corresponding to the longitudinal extension of the at least one discrete layer of the absorbent pad.