California diaper program drew warnings of waste before Baby2Baby contract award

California awarded Baby2Baby a $6.2 million contract after its plan to send every newborn home with 400 diapers in limited sizes was identified as a possible source of waste. The deal sat at the center of Golden State Start, the state’s new diaper program, even though the other finalist offered more diapers, more sizes and a direct-to-consumer option.

Gavin Newsom announced the program on May 8, 2026, saying California would provide 400 free diapers to every newborn while exploring how CalRx could help bring down diaper costs. The effort was meant to ease expenses for families and support infant and maternal health. The rollout would reach more than 60 hospitals, putting the program inside maternity wards rather than through a broader retail or home-delivery system.

Baby2Baby’s Golden State Start FAQ put the contract at $6.2 million to distribute 40 million diapers statewide over the next several years. The diapers would go to babies born in participating hospitals regardless of family income. California’s contract database labeled the Baby2Baby deal “NON-COMPETITIVELY BID,” a detail that sharpened questions about why the state selected a limited distribution model after internal warnings about waste.

Those warnings centered on logistics. Handing out 400 diapers in only a narrow range of sizes could leave families with diapers they could not use, reducing the value of the state purchase. The competing finalist proposed more diapers, more sizes and a direct-to-consumer option, a setup that could have reached families outside the hospital and adjusted better to changing infant needs.

On July 8, 2026, California still had not released the Baby2Baby contract as lawmakers weighed longer public records delays. Newsom’s office called earlier diaper-contract reporting “demonstrably false,” even as state records continued to show how the contract was structured.