California becomes first state to provide a month of free diapers to all newborns

California families welcoming newborns will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a first-in-the-country program announced on Friday by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor’s office did not say how many. The state has partnered with the non-profit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label “Golden State Start”.

Newsom said the plan builds on California’s effort to make living in the notoriously expensive state a little easier for families. He highlighted policies in recent years to provide students with free meals at schools and make preschool free for all.

“Every baby born in California deserves a healthy start in life – and that means making sure parents have the basics they need from day one,” the Democrat said in a statement.

The state set aside $7.4m in last year’s budget to roll out the initiative, and this year’s budget proposal includes an additional $12.5m to implement the program for the upcoming fiscal year ending in June 2027.

It will allow each family to receive 400 diapers in sizes for newborns and babies up to 14lb (6kg) when they are discharged from a hospital after birth. That’s a little more than a month’s worth, since newborns on average require eight to 10 diapers a day.

Baby2Baby provides families in need with essential items. The non-profit built a manufacturing system that allows them to produce diapers for 80% less than the retail price, co-CEO Kelly Sawyer Patricof said.

“California is once again setting the standard of what it means to show up for mothers and babies,” added co-CEO Norah Weinstein.

The announcement comes two years after Tennessee and Delaware became the first US states to offer free diapers to families enrolled in their Medicaid programs, which provide healthcare to low-income families. Tennessee families can go to pharmacies to pick up 100 diapers per month for children under two. The Delaware program, which began as a pilot before the state extended it in 2024, provides individuals with up to 80 diapers and up to one pack of baby wipes per week in the first 12 weeks of life.

California’s Medicaid system doesn’t cover diapers for newborns, but it does cover the items for enrollees aged five and older if they have a medical need for them.

Diapers are a significant expense for many families. They typically cost about $100 a month per child, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal thinktank. The cost burden can lead some parents to leave their child’s diapers on for too long or reuse disposable diapers, which can result in rashes and urinary tract infections, the center says.