An image of the nail hammered into woman's head. Courtesy: Twitter

A pregnant Pakistani woman had a nail hammered into her head by a faith healer who said it would guarantee she gave birth to a boy, a doctor said Wednesday.

The woman arrived at a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar after trying to extract the nail herself with pliers, doctor Haider Khan told reporters.

"She was fully conscious, but was in immense pain," said Khan, who removed the spike.

The mother of three daughters said she was pregnant with another girl, the doctor added.

An X-Ray of the woman's forehead shows the nail inserted deep into her skull. Courtesy: Twitter

An X-ray showed the five-centimetre (two-inch) nail had pierced the top of the woman's forehead but missed her brain.

Khan said a hammer or other heavy object was used to knock it in.

The woman initially told hospital staff she had hammered the nail into her head herself on the advice of the faith healer, before later saying he had carried out the act.

Peshawar police are trying to track down the woman in order to question him.

"We have collected the CCTV footage from the hospital and hope to reach the woman soon," city police chief Abbas Ahsan said.

"We will soon lay our hands on the sorcerer," he said.

Agence France-Presse