text: A Missouri family has bee reunited 49 years after a mother was falsely told her daughter had died at the hospital just hours after being born. For the first time, Zella Jackson Price, 76, and Melanie Diane Gilmore, 49, met in-person at Price's Olivette home. When Price gave birth at Homer G. Phillips Hospital so many years ago, she was told shortly after delivery that the infant had died. But Gilmore was alive and for an unknown reason adopted by another family. Scroll down for video . Zella Jackson Price (pictured), 76,  was told shortly after delivering her baby that the infant had died. But the baby was still very much alive and had for an unknown reason been given up for adoption . Melanie Diane Gilmore, 49, has been reunited with her mother after 49 years. Her children helped her find her mother through a name given to Gilmore through her adoptive parents . Price and Gilmore immediately embraced when the daughter arrived at her mother's house in Olivette, Missouri . 'I'm so elated. I'm just hugging her and there's such a big family. She didn't know she had so many people here in St. Louis,' she said. Price told Daily Mail Online that when she was still in the hospital ward, she was told by doctors her baby, which was prematurely born, had died. The details she was given were very vague, and she said she was told the baby's twin had died, too, even though she had only had a single-child birth. The hospital had a big maternity ward, she said, adding that she had seen women nursing the wrong babies while she was there. 'There's a lot of information they should have given me,' Price said. 'I still have a lot of questions.' Friends of Gilmore's foster parents revealed to Price this week that her daughter had spent six months in an incubator before being taken to the family who adopted her. Her foster parents have since died, but Price said it was heartwarming to know that she grew up in a good home. 'She ended up in a family of love. They cared for her so much,' Price said. Gilmore, who lost her hearing when she was three years old after a childhood illness, said meeting her biological mother - her father has passed away - is something she's wanted for a long time. Price and Gilmore exchanged many hugs and said they loved one another during their first in-person meeting . 'I'm just so happy... very excited,' she told KTVI. Gilmore's four children knew about their mother's wish and researched a name that Gilmore was given from her adoptive parents. They eventually came across Zella Price. Price received a text message from one of Gilmore's four children at 4am several weeks ago, something she 'will never forget'. 'She texted me a messaged asking if I was her grandmother. I said, "Why do you think that", and she started asking questions and asked if I had given birth on November 25 - which I had,' Price said. The mother and daughter eventually video chatted on Oovoo and the pair did a DNA test and confirmed Price was Gilmore's mother. And then they decided to meet in person. On the day she met her mother, Gilmore was also able to meet her biological brother Harvey, who picked her and her own daughter and son up at Lamber-St. Louis International Airport. The family had flown from Oregon. Gilmore also had a chance to meet her biological brother Harvey, who picked Gilmore and her children up from the airport . When the mother and daughter finally came face-to-face, they hugged for several moments and said they loved each other. 'There was a bond that automatically started when we saw each other,' Price said. She added that she has been hurt by the separation and is relieved to have a new start. '(God) has given me everything the devil has taken from me,' Price, an accomplished gospel singer, told KTVI. 'I'm getting it back. I'm getting my baby back.' Price said that Gilmore's kids told her they hadn't ever seen her as happy as she was when she arrived in St. Louis to meet her biological mother. 'She's been dancing and all of her comedy and laughter has come out,' Price said. 'We're all so happy.' The family will soon begin an investigation into what happened at the hospital the day Gilmore was born. Price has hired an attorney to help with the process. But for now, they celebrate being a family once again. 'There’s nothing greater. There’s nothing greater than this. Nothing,' Price said. Price (center) said that she's looking forward to having a second chance at forming a relationship with her daughter, who she thought had died nearly 50 years ago .
target: Zella Jackson Price of Olivette, Missiouri, gave birth to her baby 49 years ago .
  After she was told her baby had died, the baby, now named Melanie Gilmore, was adopted to another family for an unknown reason .
  Price, 76, and Gilmore, 49, confirmed they were related through a DNA test .
  They both appear to be overwhelmed with emotion during reunion .
  Soon they will begin an investigation into the hospital to see what happened .