The machine according to the invention, for making absorbent sanitary articles, comprises a device for forming inside the absorbent article a pad composed of a plurality of superposed layers of absorbent material, a transfer roller located downstream of the device and having a cylindrical lateral surface, and a wrapping unit which is located downstream of the transfer roller and by which the pad is placed between a first sheet of impermeable or permeable material and a second sheet of permeable material the transfer roller transfers the internal pad from the forming device to the wrapping unit, the forming device also comprises, for each layer of absorbent material, a respective forming unit for cutting into lengths a continuous web of absorbent material fed into the selfsame unit and for transferring the lengths to the transfer roller the lengths of material fed by each unit are mutually superposed on the lateral surface of the transfer roller so as to form the layers of the pad and the pad itself.
