A newborn girl stolen from a Florida hospital 18 years ago has been found alive in South Carolina, where police accused the woman who raised her of kidnapping.

DNA analysis identified the young woman, who never knew that her birth name was Kamiyah Mobley, said Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams.

She is in good health but understandably overwhelmed, he said.

Police arrested 51-year-old Gloria Williams, of Walterboro, South Carolina, on charges of kidnapping and interference with custody.

The sheriff said the woman's birth family is rejoicing, but how and when to reconnect with them is up to the young woman.

She was only eight hours old when she was taken by a woman posing as a nurse from University Medical Centre in 1998.